4 Years Ago Today...

I married my best friend.

 

 

I was trying to think of a less cliche sentence to start off with but there's really no better way to say it. No wonder that line is used so much. We've been together for 7 years total now and I think most married couples would agree that you fall more in love each year. You learn new things about your spouse all the time. You grow closer. You become better people. You complete each other. 

As Maroon 5 would say, it's not always rainbows and butterflies, it's compromise that moves us along. I couldn't agree more. You learn to pick your battles and accept each other's flaws. That's what a real relationship is all about. It's not always easy but it's totally worth it.

To this day, he still opens my car door. He's the chef of our household. He keeps us on budget so we don't go broke. When I ask him to help me with laundry, he responds with "I do man things" then helps anyway. He's kind. He's forgiving. He's the love of my life. I'm a very lucky lady.  

Here we are today, looking forward to the next anniversary:

And here are some old pictures of us, chosen completely at random & in no particular order:

All these years later, I'm still crazy about this guy, occasional red beard and all.

Happy 4 year wedding anniversary to us!

 

Happy Hour Monday

I'm linking up again with Ellie and Jac for Happy Hour! You should too! It's simple. List 5 things you have on the brain lately and poof, you have a new blog post. Here we go...

1.) Gatorade - I cannot get enough of this stuff lately. It's an addiction really. Sometimes I think I run just so I can buy more of it. I got a coupon for a free Gatorade at Speedway and nearly peed my pants with excitement. Yep. Grape is my fav in case anyone ever wants to buy me some.

2.) Kayaking - If you've never gone kayaking before, you're missing out. I love floating down the river on a nice evening with the hubs. We just bought a couple from my cousin (thanks Patty) and will be picking them up whenever the roof rack to transport them gets delivered to our house. More on this later.

3.) Teleworking - I work from home 3 days a week. I love it. Plain and simple, it's the only thing that keeps me sane anymore. The people I work with talk all day long at the office and it's next to impossible to get anything accomplished. Don't mind that Applebees screen on the picture below, I was looking up their menu on my lunch break.

4.) The Cincinnati Reds - Can anyone else believe that they're the number one team in baseball right now? Unreal. Even with our best player on the DL at the moment, they're doing well. There's nothing better than to see your team win and for Reds fans, this has been a long time coming. Man, I love baseball.

5.) Karma Checks - One year for my birthday I told my husband that I wanted these. His response "only if you promise to never give them out to anyone in my presence". Deal. It's like a checkbook with good karma checks on one side and bad karma checks on the other. An example of a good one would be "Thanks so much for letting us sit at your table for so long and enjoy a nice... slow... meal. Other place, other servers, would hurry us out to turn over the table. We're tipping you the best we can, but aside from that, we just want you to know how much we appreciate your not making us feel like gastro criminals". An example of a bad one would be "I'm sure there's a good reason for the 37 things in your cart, so I'm assuming you're not just a rude line crasher who thinks the rest of us are just waiting behind you because we love reading the headlines of the National Enquirer. We just want to remind you that the express lane serves an important purpose in the higher plan of grocery-store civility. Best wishes from your comrades in line". Wouldn't you love to give these out?! The bad ones are way more fun than the good.

So there you have it. Does anyone else love these things? Happy Monday everyone :]

It's Ok Thursday

  It's ok...     To have a pair of sunglasses in every car and purse. Squinting gives me a MAJOR headache.   To celebrate National S'mores Day tomorrow. Oh yes. Look it up, totally real.   To dream of houses you'll never be able to afford. Ever.   To get toothpaste all over your mouth when you brush. Just me? Can't be.   To choose not to donate to every organization that asks for money. I doesn't make me selfish. Girl's on a budget, ok? I'm sorry I can't save the world.   To be VERY excited about the USA vs Japan women's soccer match today! We must win the gold medal since we lost last years World Cup to them. Depressing.   To slam your name tag against you cubicle wall because it's losing it's stickiness and clearly that's the only way to deal with it. Then be asked if you're alright by scared co-workers.   To love Pinterest more and more every day, but still refuse to have an account because that's just one more thing that I'll obsess over. Instead, I'll browse at other's pages at my leisure.   To watch several episodes of My Drunk Kitchen in a row on Youtube. Thanks a lot Jenny, now I'm hooked! The simple things make me laugh.   To pray for total strangers going through things that are, unfortunately, all too familiar to you.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   What are you saying "it's ok" to today?    

Happy Hour

Today I'm linking up with Ellie and Jac for Happy Hour Monday! (It's new, get on board.)

The idea is to list 5 things that you're diggin' these days. Simple, right? Let's jump right into it:

1.) Vaseline - You heard me. I'll pause while you get your mind out of the gutter... Anyway, I put it on my toes when I run. It prevents blisters and Lord knows I get 'em like a teenager gets acne. I also have the fancier runner version called Body Glide but Vaseline does the same thing, comes in a bigger container and is about $9 cheaper. Need I say more?  

2.) Running - In case you skipped number 1 for some crazy reason and didn't know, I run. I ran cross country and track back in the day from 7th grade until my freshman year of college when I decided I'd had enough. I wish I never stopped because getting back into shape is no joke. I've completed two 1/2 marathons in the past couple years. Throw in a couple 5k's and call it a day. No, it's not always easy but it makes me feel good so I make time for it. No more excuses, just results.

3.) Jack's Mexican Pizza - Delicious. That's the only way to describe it. You should really try it! Actually, don't. That will leave more for me at the store.    

4.) Sherwin Williams Color Snap App - Have you seen this thing? It's so cool. You snap a picture of anything you want and it will match a paint color to it. Of course we had to see what color our eyes were according to ol' SW. The report? Mine are "Deep Sea Dive" and my husband's are "Loyal Blue". This will come in handy next time we want to paint.

5.) Backpacker magazine - This magazine is great! It makes me want to get outside and hike, no doubt. It tells you fantastic trails to take, what to buy, better yet, what not to buy and so much more. If I could travel the world, this is the magazine I would take with me to scout out all the places to find amazing views and solitude. Plus, it has great tips and facts.

So there you have it. I have these 5 favs on the brain today. What are you loving?

It's Ok Thursday

  It's ok...   To not like Cracker Barrel... or ihop, or really any other breakfast place.   To never have been to a drive-in movie theatre.   To pick at blisters on your feet until they're raw. Don't judge me.   To think couponing isn't worth the effort. At all.   To giggle every time ping pong table tennis is mentioned as an Olympic sport game.   To eat dinner at 4:30... and again around 7.   To go visit family just to eat at the delicious place you can only get back home.   When you remember that you have leftovers from said restaurant the next day. Yes!   To let your 19 month old niece play with the cat toys. What? They fit perfectly in her hand.     To be angry about the possibility that Amazon.com may start charging taxes.   To cry when athletes take the stand to receive their Olympic medals. Totally overwhelming.   To have our 7 year old neighbor say "my mom wants to know why you guys are never outside. You only take out the trash and check the mail". Well don't make us sound like the creepers on the block who hide in our house, geez! In reality, we're outside a LOT, just not at home. Mostly at a park, bike path, festival etc. Although our pale skin would make you think otherwise. Touché, kid.     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   What are you saying "it's ok" to today?    

Virtual stink eye

Here's how I feel today:

Do you ever feel like you're wasting your time? I do. Some days my waste of time is this blog. No one reads it anyway. Yep, bring on the pity party parade and march it right down my street today. I like posting but some days I think "why bother" and get all grumpy. That's allowed, right?  

I can't imagine having 2,000 followers like many other bloggers. Honestly, that's a lot of pressure to keep it up. I don't want that. I want a fun place to jot down how I'm feeling that day. If I don't want to blog one day, I don't. I'm sorry that I would rather spend my time on the couch with my husband. Or running. Or eating. Or, I don't know, maybe doing anything else that doesn't involve technology. Is that so wrong? 

I get angry how obsessed I can be with my phone. Or Facebook. Or Instagram. Makes me feel like a sell out sometimes. And for what? It's ok to like these things. I love them. But then I just get disappointed when I don't have 100 "likes" and 87 comments backing up what I thought was brilliant sarcasm about my cat. What? Is that weird?

And while I'm on my rant, you know what else I hate? Bloggers making people "like" them on FB and Twitter and Instagram and comment on all of them and climb a mountain just to enter their damn giveaway! Can't a girl just get shit for free anymore?! I understand why they do it, they want more followers/friends, which is fine. But I don't want to be your friend, I just want your prize. Does that make me greedy? Sure. Do I care? Uh, no. Unless you're my friend in real life. Then I've probably already "liked" your pages and posted comments and will gladly enter your giveaway. Thankyouverymuch.

Now feel free to comment, you less than 25 people who read this blog.

The Olympics

Yep, the Olympics have officially started and I couldn't be more excited. I LOVE the Olympics! Summer or winter, I'm glued to the TV. We got rid of our DVR a long time ago so watching this year is going to be a challenge. But let's not lie, no one ever catches up on all the hours and hours of events you taped anyway. You end up deleting huge chunks of programming just fit another 4 hour section on your DVR. And don't get me started on what happens when it overlaps with something else you want to tape and you're forced to choose between the Olympics and your favorite sitcom. Traumatic.

Wait, what are we talking about? This was supposed to be about the Olympics, not DVR's.

You would think my favorite part of the Olympics would be Track & Field since I've been a runner, like, forever. Well, you would be incorrect. Honestly, my favorite has to be women's soccer. Now wait, don't stop reading. Hear me out. Sure, men's soccer is faster paced blah blah blah... have you ever watched women's soccer?! They are just as intense. Fact: Women's soccer has been an Olympic sport since 1996, and the US has won gold every year but 2000, when they won silver. That proves that they have the cojones to battle it out just as well, if not better than the men. This year the team is going to be incredible, yet again.

The roster is everything I hoped it would be. If you don't know who Hope Solo is by now, you must live under a bridge like a troll. She's the best goal keeper out there, hands down. Or in her case, hands up... blocking everything. (Side note: my favorite sign that a fan made said "Marry me Hope, I'm Solo") Then you have Christie Rampone, Megan Rapinoe, Tobin Heath and Abby Wambach. I mean seriously, people. You should be excited! These girls are amazing and I hope you'll be glued to your TV today watching with me.

I will also be tuned in for the swimming because I would like to see Dara Torres finally win a gold medal in an individual event *Ca'mon Dara, you can do this!* Plus, I'll be cheering for 17 year old Missy Franklin. If you haven't seen her singing in the US swim team's Call Me Maybe video, you need to watch this. Oh yea, I like Michael Phelps too, no big deal.

What's your favorite part of the Olympics?

The Color Run Columbus

The Color Run was a success!

When I first wrote about it here I was pumped! But let me tell you, actually doing it was even better. We got there bright and early along with thousands of other people impatiently waiting the start of the best 5K ever. We had one goal: Do not leave with a single white spot on your shirt. Mission accomplished, my friends.

The volunteers mostly aim low while flinging the colorful dust so we started leaning down into the cloud in order to get it on the top of our shirts. Turns out it doesn't feel great on your contact lenses, but it's excellent in your hair. The key is to go through the puff frontwards, backwards, arms up, skipping and hopping as long as you keep your mouth shut. It doesn't taste all that great. Now we know.

Honestly, this post will be better with mostly pictures so here we go...

Before:

After: 

Now let's back up a little...

Headin' into the blue. My favorite.

"Put your arms up!" Great advice.

Some volunteers wore masks. I don't blame them!

My friend since we were lil' kiddos and fellow blogger, Ellie got a little covered, I'd say

One of the volunteers (aka 14 year old boy) decided to dump it down my back getting more stuck in my sports bra than on my shirt. Fail. 

What it looks like to be on the outside of the color-cloud finale:

And on the inside:

Note to self: When throwing color in the air, try not to get it right in your own face.

My college friend (twin) and fellow blogger, Holly found me in the crowd. Sadly, I had already whiped most of the color off my face by this point. Holly, not so much.

True statement!

Staining clothing even after a couple showers is ok with me. Just don't wear anything you can't bleach. They had a clean up station, which was basically a dude with a leaf blower. We chose to try to keep as much color on our shirts as possible so we skipped that part and just sat on towels for the car ride home. If they come back to Columbus next year, I'm in! Whos' with me?!