Fun Fridays, Vlog Fridays!

To join in on Fun Fridays, click below to head over to Jen's blog!

This week, I wanted to join in on the fun for Vlog Fridays! The idea came from Kate to do a vlog each week and I thought I'd jump in this week. Pardon my appearance, it was a snow day. I have obviously not showered. You're welcome.

Untitled from Jessica T on Vimeo.

There you have it, a quick little look at who I was in eighth grade.
Forgive me, it was late last night when I recorded that.

A few other items I just thought of, I had my first real kiss in eighth grade, it was a kid named Nate, and no, I couldn't concentrate for the rest of the day. Also, in middle school, I love love loved being in choir but gave it up when we moved here because I didn't like the teacher. Oh, and I got suspended for one day because I wrote "Mr. Blank is a dork" on one of my teachers chalk boards and got caught. Rookie mistake.

So what were you like at 14? Who was your middle school crush?

DREAM BOAT.

 

This is how we do snow

As most of you know, the east coast got hit with snow again last night and we woke up this morning with about 6 inches of the fluffy white stuff on the ground.  I will say this, at least the weatherman got it right this time. Last time he said we were getting 4" of snow, we had maybe a dusting of snow mixed with sleet. He can be such a tease. 

My office wasn't closed this morning, (even though I work for a school and the entire county was) but instead, was operating on a two hour delay, however, after the state snow plow got stuck at the end of my road last night, I took that as a sign to take today off. 

What do we do on snow days you ask? Play. Duh.

I'm not so sure about this white stuff... 

 

Okay, let me run around a bit. This could be fun.  

 FREEEEDOMMM!!!

Oof, sink hole 

 I'm over this, can we go inside now?

 After these pictures were taken, he promptly got a bath. I'm now being shunned.

"Bodie, Look here!"

"Bitch please"

The post about nothing

 Remember when I told you how shitty my Friday was? Well, my weekend went all fine and dandy then Monday decided to show up and barf all over my happy little rainbow of fun. I even forgot one sneaker yesterday morning so I had to work out in my socks. Who forgets just one shoe? Me. That's who. Luckily, the Zumba class I'm taking is held here at work and is all ladies so no one really cared that I was shaking my ass with no shoes on. You better bet I shook my ass and looked like a damn fool doing it too, a dancer I am not.

The only plus to yesterday was that I've lost four pounds this week. It's a small accomplishment but a start nonetheless. I don't really have a goal for my new healthy eating but I know that my pants don't fit and I can't afford to buy new ones. So there's that... and the two new bathing suits I ordered from Victoria's Secret are a little extra motivation too.

Seeing that number slowwwwlllyyy go down gives me the oomph to keep going and keep it up no matter how much I want a damn Twinkie. The hubs even tried to tell me they now have nuts in them so I wouldn't want one, nice try Kevin. 

I do have to give it to him, the guy know how to cheer me up. When I came home from work on Friday and laid down on the couch for a few minutes, he changed the television to Say Yes to the Dress and let me watch it for the rest of the evening. Then last night, when I was still being a capital B, he turned on The Office.

He sure knows the way to my heart, pointless and mind numbing television.

Fun Fridays!

To link up and join in on the fun, click below to head on over to Jen's blog!!

Guys, I had full intentions of providing a wonderful post for you to read this morning but a lot happened between that thought and right now. Regrettably, it's not been such a Fun Friday so far.

This morning, on top of oversleeping, I forgot my cell phone, my coffee, my rings and then the entire contents of my pocketbook got spilled in the floor of my car on the way to work.

Needless to say, it had been a pretty awesome morning and when I finally got to work, a disgruntled student put the cherry on the sundae. I'm taking a vow right now to cheer myself up, even if I am forced to eat a slice of pizza for lunch (which is going to be free so that means I have to eat it right?) but if I eat it along with a salad, it cancels out the calories so it's all good and don't critisize me because my smoothie has worn off and I'm grouchy andhungrydontpushmeIamclosetotheedge.

You know how I know I have PMS? I cried over peanut butter yesterday and over spilled dog food this morning. That's my life right now. Pray that I have a better weekend, mmkay?

Changing to a less depressing series of topics,

• Tonight's date night, we'll most likely head over to our local pizza joint, conveniently owned by my brother in law.
• Tomorrow I get to sleep in. Yay, cue happy dance.
• Sunday I'll be joining my two former roommates for our usual brunch at Cracker Barrel.
• Weigh in for the "Biggest Loser" contest is at work on Monday, I'm hoping for success, my pants are loose, that's a good sign, right?

 

Happy Friday y'all! Hope your day is going better than mine, have a great weekend.

The one where I rant

 I'm not quite sure how to begin here, but basically, the following post is about funerals. If this is a sensitive subject to you, consider that fair warning.

To start, my first question is what do you call a viewing? I lived in Vermont throughout middle school and that's exactly what it was known as, now living in Virginia, it's always called "family night". That makes some sense to me I guess, since that's exactly what I feel a viewing is. Friends come to pay respect to the family. Key word in that sentence? RESPECT.

Some people just don't have it.

Last night, Kev and I had to make an appearance at a "family night" of a friend's lost grandmother. I've never met her and neither has my husband but we felt it necessary to give our condolences to the family since we are basically neighbors.

When we arrived at the funeral home, I first noticed how many cars were in the parking lot and was expecting a long line of people waiting to hug the family. On the contrary, there were a few people in line and the rest of the folks were just sitting in the pews with their own families, talking amongst themselves.

This is not what I have a problem with. If you plan to come in, say something to the relatives and have a seat to pay your respects or pray, whathaveyou, that's wonderful. You go right ahead and do that. BUT, if you plan to say your condolences and then proceed to sit in the funeral home just to gossip, then go home. I overheard many conversations that didn't seem suitable for the environment but it gets worse. Kids were sitting there playing on their Nintendo DS and parents were talking on their cell phones. My immediate thought was WHAT THE F*CK?! Take it outside. Take everything outside. Your gossip, your cell phone and your kids annoying video game.

Personally,  my siblings and I were brought up that when in church or at a funeral/viewing/family night/bat mitzvah/wedding etc., you clean yourself up, dress appropriately, act appropriately and put your phone on silent. It's common courtesy.

I'm not saying my bro never ripped the occasional trouser burp but sometimes that can't be controlled. It's the way you handle yourself about it, you snicker, hope the people in the pew behind you can't tell, and continue with the service.

So friends, this ends my rant.

I gave in to the green monster

When I first started this blog, I told myself I wouldn't blog about politics, religion or weight loss but it seems one of those things have taken over my life recently and I can't even think of anything else to write. Oh, and if your wondering, I'm a Methodist and a Democrat with Republican tendencies. Or am I a Republican with Democratic tendencies? Either way, I'm not telling you who I vote for.

So yesterday, I got inspired to do a bit of shopping and stopped by the grocery store on my way home from the gym. My local Food Lion has crap produce so I had to turn to the pricier Martin's for my veg fix. I have been wanting some broccolini (mix between broccoli and kale, I think. Correct me if I'm wrong) for a long time and I could never find it but yesterday was a success. Along with it, I got a gorgeous eggplant, spinach, fresh strawberries and finally, soy milk.

I've never tasted a drop of this stuff but decided to give it a whirl.

When I got home from the store and Kevin saw what was I bought, I thought he was going to cry, like I'm going to force him to eat fresh vegetables. He looked at me and said "Can I still have spaghetti for dinner?" - I couldn't help busting out laughing. Yes, he had his spaghetti and I had my tilapia with broccolini.

A big problem for me while eating healthy is breakfast. I'm normally running late and have zero time to cook anything so I decided yesterday that I would try Neely's Green Monster. I made a few adjustments of my own and blended up some breakfast this morning! Here's her version, my edits in italics.

• 2-3 cups of spinach (I used a smidge less. I was scared)
• 1 banana
• 2-3 strawberries (I used frozen, won't do that again. My blender wanted to die.)
• 3/4 cup of milk (Soymilk!!)
• truvia sweetner (I had Splenda)
• ice (Didn't use ice since my strawberries were frozen)

{NEELY'S GREEN MONSTER. I FAILED TO TAKE A PICTURE OF MINE}

Dudes, this drink tastes like a milkshake. The vanilla soymilk was really good and I'm kind of excited to try this again tomorrow. Don't worry about it being a funky green color, you won't taste the spinach at all. Trust me, stop being a baby and just try it. It keeps you full (until you crave donuts) and gives you a ton of veggie and fruit goodness. 

I heard a rumor that you're supposed to strive towards TEN servings of fruit and vegetables per day. Ha! 

Maybe if there all french fries.

Kitty Koach. Are you for real?

Infomercials are entertaining, ridiculous and you can't help but want the products no matter how silly they seem. I first brought you the Bear Scratch. Today, I bring you the Kitty Koach.

{Source}

This is exactly what the product looks like and it does exactly what you think it does. It trains your cat to use the toilet. All in all, it seems like a great idea, but the commercial is a bit awkward to me because it's random shots of cats, um, doing their business. Not sure they care or not, but I don't want to see anyone using the toilet.

{Source}

Secretly, I wish I still had a cat so I could see if this worked. The set comes with a series of three rings that you fill with cat litter. They gradually get smaller and smaller until the cat is basically using just the toilet. Brilliant. I died the first time I saw the infomercial. People really do think of everything.

Has anyone else seen this? Regardless, go buy one.
Report back with your findings. 

Sans photos of your cat using the toilet.

(This blog post was not endorsed by Kitty Koach. I just thought it was hilarious)

Fun Fridays

To link up and join in on the fun, click below to head over to Jen's blog!!

Have you missed me? I know, I've been a bit MIA this week. Sorry but I've been so busy eating vegetables and working out that I haven't had time to blog. I made myself a promise that I would start eating healthier as a sort of detox after the holidays and get back into my workout routine. No, it's not a new year's resolution. It's not a diet and I barely break a sweat at the gym. I mean, It's hard to run and watch Paula Deen at the same time. 

On the plus side, I haven't had any sugar in two weeks! Well, besides the half of a Krispy Kreme donut I ate yesterday. You know that shit takes will power. Who can only eat a HALF a Krispy Kreme. Me, that's who.

I've decided that I'm not gonna go all gung ho and deprive myself, this whole healthy eating thing is gonna take baby steps but it really helps that I have some awesome motivation here on the blogs. I could hire Neely to cook for me and make me green monster shakes in the morning and I could hire Caroline to be my trainer. This chick went to Jazzercize 200 times last year! (Yeah, I went to the gym about half that.) Not to mention all the inspiring and amazing runners I follow. Have you heard of C25K? It's the Couch to 5K Program and is so intriguing that I may have to jump on that bandwagon.

Enough link love. I'm gonna hit the gym until my legs look this fierce.

Happy Friday y'all!! 

Oh, and if you enjoyed my dialect vlog, and some of the other girls that participated, stay tuned because a Vlog of the Month Club has been organized!! Head over to sign up or add a topic! 

Thanks to Kelly and Hannah for brainstorming and coming up with it.

My First Vlog

 

 Hannah did it first, then Kelly, and tonight, Katie posted hers. There's no way I could pass up this fun vlog. Basically, the concept is to read a list of provided words and answer some questions to see how you pronounce/say or answer them. I'll be completely honest with you guys, this video was take three. First, you couldn't hear me and the second time I kept looking wide eyed like a deer in the headlights. After realizing I'm going to look like a fool no matter what, here's what you're left with. Enjoy.

Untitled from Jessica T on Vimeo.

AWKWARD DOT COM.

You have no idea how hard it is to watch myself without cringing! Yikes. 

So, if you didn't vom at the sight of me and the vicious mini snow leopard (that'd be Bodie) didn't scare you off, feel free to join in on the fun and do a video of your own. Here is the list of words to say and questions to answer.

Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

 

• What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
• What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
• What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
• What do you call gym shoes?
• What do you say to address a group of people?
• What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
• What do you call your grandparents?
• What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
• What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
• What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

 I'm really interested to see what you guys come up with so, um, just do it. Okay? Now would be good.

 

Mmkthanksloveyoubye. 

Fun Fridays - Car Shopping

To link up and join in on the fun, head on over to Jen's blog by clicking below!

Y'all, It's been a good few years with the 2007 Volkswagen Eos I have but I've come to realize that she's just not "the one". Alice, my hardtop convertible, has had all the best intentions but she's a first year Eos, and has developed a few quirks. Not only does the hubby think she's cursed, due to my horrible driving and hitting mailboxes, but she's become a leaky, oil consuming, pain in the butt. 

It's time to upgrade. A couple of options I'm hoping to test drive tomorrow are:

 {Subaru Tribeca}

{Nissan Rogue}

They're similar aren't they? Well, hubs wants me to get something that will go okay in the snow because my current car is a bitch in the rain let alone when it gets cold outside. I also still want something that's on the smaller side and if it wouldn't hurt if it had a bad ass sound system.

What say you friends? I would love some feedback on crossovers, if I can't have my Hawaiian vacation, I'm trading my car in and dammit, I'm trading up. I've had it with used cars, crossing my fingers for a brand new baby.

------------------

On another subject, Christina from At Least We Have Each Other has also tagged me to answer a few questions! She's been a fave blog of mine since the beginning so, here ya go, you asked for it girly:

1. If you could move anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I'm not sure where I would move, I would want to check the place out first. So if you could send me to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, the Carribbean, and Idaho...That'd be great. I'll let you know where I want to move after that. Why Idaho? I love potatoes. Don't question my theories.

2. What is one of your earliest memories?
At first thought I want to say the birth of my baby brother, but then I also remember being in elementary school when we lived in Hawaii and my teacher dressed as a tick for Halloween.

3. What's your favorite recipe?
Oooh, this is a hard one. I would have to say Paula Deen's pumpkin gooey cakes. It's too easy and too delicious. Kevin would say his fave recipe is my enchiladas. Want it? Look on the back of the can. That's what I use, just don't tell on me.

4. Warm weather or cold weather?
See answer one. Minus Idaho.

5. What's your weirdest habit?
We've actually touched on this subject before, I pull my eyebrows out when I'm scared or nervous. It's gross and I hate that I do it.

6. How much time do you spend online in a day?
Why? Did my boss tell you to ask me?

7. How many states have you visited?
Well, if you count where I've lived, it would total 13 states. We drove across country when I was little, I would LOVE to do that again. So much fun.

8. If you won $20,000 cash -- how would you spend it?
Fixing up my house is first priority and then use the rest towards a new one.

9. How do you style your hair on a daily basis?
Um, you mean when I have time, because normally it's half wet and all I do is blow dry my bangs. Imagine that hot mess. If I have time, I blow dry my hair halfway, add in some Chi Silkening shit (that's what the bottle says) then finish blow drying. Flip my head over, get a head rush, continue blow drying with my ceramic round brush. Then flip back. Get a head rush. Fluff bangs. (Technical term) Then I curl slightly with a round brush. Hairspray. Fluff. Hairspray. Fluff. Repeat until satisfied. (That's what she said.)

10. Who do you look up to?
Tall people.

A few questions answered

 A few days ago, my girl Michelle at Life With a Crazy Pup tagged me to answer a few questions so, here you have it!

What’s your biggest goal for 2011?
Feeling better about myself is a big one but more importantly, going to Hawaii. I didn't get my honeymoon for Christmas so, that's still on my to do list. I know, you're sick of hearing about it. I don't care. I want to go. Like, bad.

What are three songs on your “get pumped up” list?
When I hit the gym, I put my Pandora radio on Lady Gaga and I beat that beat up. Yes, I just quoted Jersey Shore. Yes, I do watch it. It's time I came clean, that ridiculous show is my guilty pleasure. It's Jersday people.

Do you prefer a night out at a bar or a night in with friends?
I've never been one to hit the bar scene but when I'm convinced, I always have a blast but if you give me a night in with a group of my best girlies, that's where I'm happiest. How much better could it get? My BFF's, a little vino, some Justin Bieber and maybe the Twilight saga. Perfect night in.

How much time on average do you spend blogging per day?
I can't reveal that, I might get fired.

If you could live in any time period, what would it be?
Well, sometime after electricity and running water would be good but London in the 1700-1800's just seems fascinating. 

If you could drop everything and start over, what would you change?
I don't think I would. Sure, I've made some mistakes: kissed the wrong boys, got caught steeling, got speeding tickets, didn't study in school, smacked around my little bro, drank wine coolers at 17 and smoked cigs. But I don't do that stuff anymore. I'm a married old prude now and I love it.

Would you rather have a personal chef or a personal trainer?
Neither. I like to cook and I hate to work out so that settles that.

What’s your biggest pet peeve?
Negativity. 
Sarcasm I can deal with, obviously. 

Why did you start blogging?
I started following Weddingbee when I was planning my own wedding and it was a downward spiral from there. A slight obsession  interest may  have formed so I figured what the heck, why not start a little blog of my own. I've gotten to know some pretty awesome ladies through the blog world too, so that's always a perk.

What is the worst job you’ve ever had?
When I was in high school, my first job ever was at Subway, but I can't say that I hated the job itself but if we're talking about lazy coworkers, shitty customers and a cranky boss, that's another story.

So, if you still want to be my friend after I answered all those questions, come on over. I've got some Riesling in the fridge that needs to be drank. Drunk? Drinked? Whatever, just get your ass here to party with me.  

 

How I got the wrong dog.

On Friday, I posted a recap of my past decade and afterward, a few of you were curious how I ended up with the wrong dog and looking back on it now, I should probably have seen it coming. 

I was living in a townhouse with three other girls a few years ago and our landlord only allowed one small pet so when I decided I wanted a dog, that narrowed down the field immediately.

After checking our area animal shelters for small breeds I knew a rescue might not happen. After some research and narrowing down some options, I widened my search and came across an ad in the paper for a West Highland White Terrier breeder who had five puppies for sale. Of course, being the good Animal Planet viewer that I am, when we went to visit, I scanned the area for any signs of a puppy farm. It looked legit. The lady even owned a preschool and after seeing those little 2 and 3 year kids play with the puppies, my heart melted. Bodie was obviously the sweetest pup out of all of them and I knew he had to be mine. I told her I was sold and that I would come back in a couple days after getting the appropriate supplies. 

Once I got a crate, some toys, food and the okay from my boyfriend (now husband), we called the breeder to arrange for the pickup. She informed me that she wouldn't be home but her two teenage sons would know what to do. Yeah, right.

When we arrived, her high school age son pointed me in the direction of the fenced in area out back and asked me which dog was mine, the girl dog or the boy. Confused, (because, ya know, I figured the damn breeder would have at least filled them in on the appropriate details) I told him that I had chosen the boy puppy. We scooped up the little bugger and were on our way. 

Things seemed weird though, the puppy seemed really distant and kinda mean, but I chocked it up to nerves. He was moving in with a new family and obviously didn't want to leave all his little homies behind. We got back to the townhouse and started playing with the roommates but puppy was still not super social and he would nip at everyone. Nothing a little training can't fix I thought. Then, that evening, we were cuddling on the couch and the little bastard guy started chewing my cell phone charger. I gave him a little tap when my phone rang and it was the breeder

She apologized profusely and told me that her son had forgotten that my puppy was inside the laundry room, not the kennel outside. The dog I had, which was still chewing my phone cord into a million pieces, actually belonged to a man on vacation in London. She was his foster momma until the guy got back. At this point, I was relieved, the freaking dog was the devil. He nipped, peed, chewed and barked so much, I was glad to give him up.

The next morning, my sweet little boy came home. Now, obviously Bodie wasn't a perfect angel either. He chewed my dresser, my dining room table, and my Timberland boots as a puppy but never once did he chew my cell phone cord.

Bodie knew I had a BlackBerry obsession. We're soulmates.