Weekly recap

Picture of the week: My friends Justin and Kim got engaged! Congrats guys!

Here's the resolution update:

1. Drinking - Does it count if you "kind of" went out two days in a row? It WAS MLK weekend, and I got Monday off, so I guess it qualifies as a special occasion
2. Gym - Went once. Then my cold got in the way. Stupid cold.
3. F-Bomb - Did pretty good on this one until Saturday night. You know how stupid it is to try and argue with someone while using the word "freaking"? You sound like a third-grader.

Random

So I was watching this completely awful reality show the other day (Crowned, the Mother of all Pageants, if you must know), and saw this!
Yeah, that handsome face delivering gifts to the winners of some random challenge just happens to be a guy John that my friend Melissa used to date. How funny is that? I wonder if this means he has "made it"? Somehow I doubt that the pretty boy delivery guy role pays all that well

Wednesday!

Man, last week just flew by! I can't believe how fast it went.

Here's the resolution recap:

• Gym - I went once last week. It was early in the week, and all week I was like "this recap is gonna rock. I am going to say that I didn't go once... I went four times!" Alas, my best-laid plans did not work out and I went only once. But I was so sore that it was hard to walk around. Does that count double?
• Drinking - I didn't really drink AT ALL last week. I had one beer at dinner on Friday (we got some Pequod's pizza, yum!) and a couple glasses of wine with Mike and my friend Beth on Saturday. But it was a nice good weekend in, which I totally needed.
• FBomb - Mike says that this week was "pretty good" although he did notice me put in the s-word somewhere where it was completely NOT needed last night when discussing a subject I became all fired up about and thought "Oy, we still have some work to do!" Hey now, I didn't say I was working on that word too!

On Friday we saw "Charlie Wilson's War" which I thought was good and entertaining. I enjoyed it. There were some great one liners "That's why you're the Press Secretary, Boo-Boo!!!" and the overall story was very enlightening and cool about things that were going on in the 80's that I obviously had NO idea about. So that was pretty cool, plus I dig Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts (even though I don't know how great the role was for her, she played it well).

Oh and no picture this week. I have been straight up awful about taking pictures, I think I have been straight up revelling in the not-having-to-take-pics-every-day freedom. I'll get back on the horse sooner or later.

Happy Wednesday

It's bullet-point Wednesday!

• Is anyone else loving Cashmere Mafia? It's not deep by any means, but it's entertaining. Just me then? Mmmm'kay
• Sometimes I wonder if I say curse words when I don't even realize it. Kind of how I grind my teeth in the night.
• I am really really sick of these doomsday CTA/Metra/PACE threats. If we don't get more funds then fares are $3 each way! And 50 routes get cut! Oh surprise, at the last minute the state legislature comes through with Magic Money. Where does this magic money come from and why can't they just fund the CTA to begin with?
• My group at work laughed at me when I told them my New Year's resolutions. I think they may be a leeeetle ridiculous. Oh well.

OK time to go to bed!

Resolutions, Best Shot Monday

Here is the picture of the week, which isn't that good since I haven't been taking many pictures this week. We just recently (yesterday) returned the condo to it's pre-New-Year's-Eve-debauchery state. Thank goodness, because just thinking about all those red rug babies tracked throughout the whole place was driving me crazy one red rug baby at a time. Oh, and Blue Guy - wash your brand-new dark jeans before you go to someone's party and rub up against every single wall next time. If it weren't for the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (please be sold forever, and ever, Amen) I would track you down and hurt you.

Resolution Tally:

1. Gym - Went once, on Friday night
2. Drinking - One late night out. Friday we went out to dinner with friends (3.25 beers) and tonight I went out for Emily's b-day and the OSU vs. LSU game and I had 1.5 beers (half of a 32 oz beer)
3. Cursing - I think I'm doing better. But no quote from the Hubs, as he is watching the OSU/LSU game still. But I do know that I said it 5 times on Saturday night which I think is pretty darn good for me!

Oh and I guess I did have another fun shot or two from Emily's bday party on Saturday:

Sarvesh clowns with a fake gun the bouncer lent us

Jaci, Em, Me, and Choater!

Happy Birthday, Emily!!!

Resolution follow-up

So I have made a few more decisions regarding resolutions!

Every week, I will post a recap of how the resolutions went. I was worried about how the cursing one was going to be measured, so I decided I would get a quote of the week from Hubs regarding how he thought I was doing. So that should be good clean fun.

Additionally, I figured out how to maintain the picture portion of the blog but not just post a few random pictures (which will still happen I think!). I read on Miss Zoot (who designed this website by the way) that she is going to participate in Best Shot Monday. So I'll be posting that badge and posting my best shot of the week each Monday.



Additionally, I have been talking about taking a photography class for a year, ever since I bought that DSLR. This year I am going to make it a goal to actually go to that class.

OK I think that is it!

Resolutions?

I have been trying to think of what to do with this here little website now that the year of Project 365 (take a picture a day, everyday) is over. I think I will keep it, it has been such fun to keep track of my life in this manner, and it really keeps some of my family updated on my life. So I think I’ll keep it, but you’ll probably see less of the dumb mundane posts of the week. You know those posts that are along the lines of “I did nothing but work today, here is a pic of the Lean Cuisine I had for dinner” (although who am I kidding, if I have a Lean Cuisine for dinner I also have a side of taco dip, corn dog, and Colby jack cheese). But I will try to post a couple times a week at least.

Another thing I have also been thinking about is New Year’s Resolutions. I feel like there are a few things that I need to do in order to become a better person. But I think the overall theme of these resolutions is “Aim Low.” Nevertheless, here they are:

• Gym – Work out once a week. This one is pretty straightforward and will probably pain me immeasurably all the way until Valentine’s Day (when all the resolutioners give up and go home).
  
• Drinking – Cut down to only once a week, with the exception of Special Occasions. Special Occasions are determined by me and only me and may include, but are not limited to: St Patty’s Day, Cubs Game, birthday, president’s day, Wednesday, etc. This would also not apply to date nights where I have one glass of wine, but more to the drinking nights that precur stumbling into Taco Burrito Place Los Tres Panchos and ordering one of everything they’ve got. You know the type of evening I’m looking at.
  
• Cursing – As I said in my 2007 survey, I curse entirely too much. I figure I better cut down on that habit WAY before I have a little mini Mike to follow me around parroting words like &^*^R%^&% (don’t get any ideas anybody, we’re not having kids anytime soon. I’m still in the “I want a puppy but don’t want to clean up after it or take it outside to go or actually have a dog a few months later” phase). But in order to make that a habit, I need to start now. In keeping with the Aim Low portion of the resolutions, I am going to try and eliminate only the F-bomb from my vocabulary by December 31, 2008. This would have one exception – the WTF? Expression, When Really Royally Pissed, times that my girlfriends would call The Wrath. I anticipate that this will make Hubs very happy, and possibly earn me more snuggle time on the couch (as he hates my filthy sailor mouth).

I feel like I should put something regarding eating in there too, but the Aim Low goal allows me not to. Perhaps I’ll think of something later that I could fit in as well.

I don’t know, maybe I’ll do a weekly recap or something to let you know how I do on these. Wish me luck, the cursing one is going to be a b*tch. Haha, good thing it's only the F-word I'm after.

January 2

Thank you, ABC-7. Without this graphic, I might have never figured out where Iowa is. Seriously?!?!

January 1

First day of no smoking in the Chicago Bars! Hallelujah!

Happy 2008! Yay, no more smoky clothes!!

2007 Questionnaire

I stole this survey from Linda over at Sundry Mourning:

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before? I ran a mini marathon, got married, and bought a condo. I also changed jobs for the first time since being in a real grownup job. I did a LOT of things in 2007 that I had never done before!

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? My New Year’s resolution was to not eat fried food or fast food, and I made it pretty well right up until the summer. I was REALLY good about it for like 3 months, and counted calories like no one’s business. I lost 10 lbs, and then quickly gained like 5 back right after I actually starting eating normal again. But I am probably slightly smaller than last year at this time.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My friend Kacey had another little boy, Carter. And a coworker had a baby, but no one else.

4. Did anyone close to you die? Thankfully, no. But we had a close brush with my Dad having a stroke and subsequent heart surgery that gave us all a pretty bad scare.

5. What countries did you visit? None! I still haven’t been out of the NAFTA countries. I may visit London or Sydney in 2008 for work.

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007? Some free time ;c)

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? August 11 – Mike and I got married. September 14 – We bought our condo

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Financial well-being. We set a budget at the beginning of the year and have largely stuck to it. It helps that we are realistic and build in some “oops” items. I also volunteered to be a big sis through a local mentoring program, and that has been super rewarding as well. I lucked out majorly though, and I have a great little sib to mentor.

9. What was your biggest failure? I should probably be a lot nicer. I get kind of mouthy and annoying a lot. I also curse entirely too much.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I had a couple mini-marathon related stress injuries (strained hip flexors and plantar fascia), and then I caught the all-mysterious croup again in March and landed myself in the hospital for two days. The doctor finally diagnosed me with a highly sensitive nose (to smoke, fragrance, etc) and acid reflux. Add in a cold and it was a perfect storm of April-Can’t-Breathe. On the upside, when you can’t breathe they let you into the ER REALLY fast.

11. What was the best thing you bought? Condo! It is really GREAT to have a home of our own and not deal with the Evil Arch Nemesis that is the Enterprise Companies and their manager Tiffany the Awful. We also put in a security system on aforementioned condo, which allows me to sleep that much better at night.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My Mom and Dad, who put up with all the wedding mania and went far above my expectations when it came to organizing and paying for the event.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I think Britney Spears came out on top for this one for most people. I feel like I wouldn’t be AS appalled if girlfriend could even remotely dress herself. She always looks a hot mess.

14. Where did most of your money go? Wedding & Condo

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Honeymoon in Napa!!! It was the coolest vacation ever.

16. What song will always remind you of 2007? Rascall Flatts’ Broken road (our first dance) and Kenny Chesney’s Me and You (my friend Amy sang it as we lit our Unity Candle).

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer? A) Sadder in some ways, happier in others B) Slightly thinner C) About the same

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Work out!

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Worry & complain

20. How did you spend Christmas? We visited with Mike’s family the weekend before Christmas, and then spent the actual day with my family. We woke up, had brunch, opened presents, played Guitar Hero, went to the movies, and then came home and had dinner and passed out.

21. Did you fall in love in 2007? I fell even more in love with Hubs, and fell in love with our new home.

22. What was your favorite TV program? How I met your Mother, hands down. Oh my gosh, Slapsgiving:


I also really like Heroes and Project Runway. Lately I have been loving Snoop Dogg’s new show Fatherhood, especially the theme song that plays at the beginning.


23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Not really. I try not to hate anyone even though I let people annoy me more than I should.

24. What was the best book you read? The Time Traveler’s wife

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? I am not that musically adventurous, but I do like T-pain a lot. And I am still loving the new Kanye CD.

26. What did you want and get? A condo, and great belongings and furniture to go in it. Our friends and family went ABOVE AND BEYOND with wedding gifts, and our family went above and beyond as well with Christmas gifts. My parents also came up to Chicago for my birthday, and that was a pretty great gift.

27. What did you want and not get? A new car

28. What was your favorite film of this year? Juno, I loved loved loved loved it!

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was 28, and on the day before my birthday my friends came over and we had chicken noodles (my mom always made that for me on my birthday). On the actual day of my birthday we went to the Black and White Ball for the Boys and Girls Club and had an outstanding night dancing and eating potstickers and drinking champagne.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? I’m honestly not quite sure.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007? Target-licious. I buy so much of my clothing from Target!

32. What kept you sane? The hubs, most definitely. He is my rock and my foundation. I lean on him when I need someone to cry to, he bandages up my finger when I cut myself. He babies me and takes care of me. I don’t know what I would do without him.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I think it would still be Justin Timberlake.

34. What political issue stirred you the most? What didn’t? I think it would be the removal of our constitutional rights by this Administration. I read this this morning and it stirred me: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/511928.html

35. Who did you miss? My family, the way it used to be. I know that things will get better, but having them all stirred and riled up makes me feel very lonely.

36. Who was the best new person you met? Sweet little Gracie, my little sib.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007. I don’t think that I learned as much as I should have! Maybe with the new job I learned that I could be happy outside of my old company, and also learned how to meet/get to know new coworkers. I also learned a ton about babies from my coworker. And I guess the wedding process teaches you ALOT about your friends and family, so there is that.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. Change will do you good

December 31

Tonight Mike and I threw a New Year's party!

December 30

No picture today, but we did go to State to watch the Colts game with Katie, her man Drew, Jay, his girl Kim, and some other friends. It was a fun time, but we were tired from the festivities the night before.

December 29

Tonight we just had a few people over and had some cocktails. Here is a pic of Jay and I ;c)

December 28

Tonight we hit up happy hour and then just went home. But somehow I ended up with no pics!

December 27

New headboard!

December 26

Today we headed back to the Chi, but first we had lunch with my parents and friend Eric at one of my fave places, Kipplee's

December 25

Stratton Family Christmas! Merry Christmas to all!!

Jay opens Guitar Hero

Mom sports a shirt from Grandma

Mike's 100% Ghetto stocking

Another cute baby! Wonder who that could be....

December 24

A pic of the Christmas Even candlelight service

December 23

Today we headed from Logansport to Evansville but stopped by his Grandma's house on the way to see her, his aunt, uncle, and cousin Alex. This is Alex, cheesing for the camera. He is such a cutie.

December 22

The Saturday before Christmas we spent with Mike's family.....

Making strudel with Grandpa Kovacs

A closeup shot of baby Odin
The boys get ready to open gifts

Is this not the cutest baby you've ever seen?

December 21

Tonight we headed back to Mike's parents house and we got pizza from this GREAT place, Bruno's. Mike always tells me about how he and his cousin Pete would fight over this plate when he was little, so he was nice and gave it to me for my pizza! Such a cute boy!

December 19 & 20

No pictures, but I did take some pics of the condo