First Things First!

I know, I know. I'm a Link-Up junkie!! Whatevs. I like this one, so I'm doing it!

This one is called First Things First with Halie and Hallie. In this link-up we talk about firsts. How awesome. I love looking back on memories. I'm sure ya'll understand.

First Thing I do when I Wake Up in the Morning: 

Easy! Hit the snooze button about 40958430 times, wake up Hubs in the process, plunky on my phone with my eyes half open (Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Reddit and Instagram) and FINALLY get out of bed. It's a process. George HATES this process. :)

First Heartbreak:

Okay, well here's a little something you may not know about me: I've never been broken up with. Ever. I've always been the one to do the breaking. I've always known what I wanted and when I realized that it just wasn't going to happen, that was it. I didn't drag it on more than I had to. No offense to any of my exes - I still actually consider most of them friends. Some better friends than others, but still friends. So, there you go.

First High School Dance or Prom: 

My first prom was... interesting. First of all, none of my girlfriends and I went shopping for dresses together, but when we got to the place to take pictures before prom this happened:

I'm guessing that pink was the *in* color that season. If you couldn't tell, I'm on the left. And secondly, prom was nothing like how I thought it would be. Well, prom was about right, but after-prom was another story. I think I'll leave it at that.

My date and I.  

And I know that it wasn't really asked for, but my Senior year of High School I was finally dating the Hubs and we went to prom together. Here's our picture:

Obligatory Front Yard Pic

Up Close - My make up was the wrong shade! 

Come link-up with us! I want to hear about your firsts! 

PS: I worked out today! Don't make me laugh tomorrow - today was ab day! 

Self-Realization

This weekend I had a moment of clarity. It's February and I live in Georgia. I haven't worn a jacket for more than 2 days in a row for about a month now. The weather is getting warm and in a few short weeks, someone is going to ask me to go do something that requires me to wear a swimsuit. Not. Good. 

I ran a half marathon this time last year and messed up my feet. My arches started collapsing, I had to go to the doctor and he told me that I shouldn't run ever again. The worst part was that I was really enjoying it. That was my workout. That's what I did - and then I couldn't. I didn't know what to do. I've been riding that excuse for nearly a year now. A YEAR. That's absolutely insane. I've talked myself out of working out every single day for a freaking year. 

So, today I made a decision. I'm taking the next 2 or 3 months to really become swimsuit ready. No eating out every night, no eating late, no more excuses. Let's face it - I blog, I Facebook, I tweet, I watch reality television - I can workout for an hour a day. 

The last time I went on a workout kick, I lost 20 pounds and I've kept most of it off. I gained back about 8, making it a net loss of 12. Not too bad. Imagine where I would be if I had kept it up for the whole year that I spent making excuses! It makes me ill to think about it. UGH. 

Starting today, it's time to get healthy and be able to put that swimsuit on in May! Ya'll keep me accountable now! And before you ask - I worked out before I wrote this post. :) 

So, it's time to shut up the slut and get out of the rut! 

Sunday Social

Today I'm linking up with Ashley and Neely for Sunday Social, flashback edition!

Here's this week's questions:  1. What was your first car? My first car was a 2000 Honda Civic in teal blue with some sparkles. I loved that car, even though it was cursed. That car and I went through so much together. Also, fun fact: all of the other half-Filipino girls I knew in high school had Honda Civics too. It was like we were in a club that we didn't really know we formed. 

This is when I won Junk of the Month at school for getting into an accident. Yay...?

2. Who was your favorite childhood teacher? I don't exactly know if high school counts as childhood, but all of my favorite teachers were in high school. My absolute favorite was my Chem teacher Mrs. Horton. She was the reason that I decided to be a chemist. 

This isn't a picture of Mrs. Horton, but it's the only picture I could find of me being a Chemist. :)

3. Were you involved in any sports/extracurricular activities? Oh boy was I. In middle school I was a cheerleader and in high school I was in Color Guard all 4 years, Captain my senior year and I played the oboe in the band. I also volunteered with a lot of different clubs. 

7th Grade Christmas parade. I'm bottom left. 

Senior year Color Guard. I'm bottom right. 

4. What was your favorite birthday party? I'm gonna go with my 16th. My mom threw me a party at the house which was amazing and my friends threw me a surprise party after that, which was also amazing. I thought I had some pictures of this, but I was mistaken. I could have swore I did, though! 
5. Who was your teen celebrity crush? I had quite a few of these. First ever crush? JTT, baby! 

Who could resist this face?

Other celebrity crushes include: JC Chasez (N*Sync), Drew Lachey (98 Degrees), Kevin Richardson (Backstreet Boys), and Matthew Lawrence - and now that I think about it, Joey Lawrence too. 

6. What show/movie did your parents not allow you to watch? That would basically be anything on MTV or VH1. The channels were literally blocked at the house. 

Come link up with us! Next week it's all about Valentine's Day! 

It's Okay Thursday

First time linking up with Neely for It's Okay Thursday. I'm pretty excited about this link-up!

It's okay: 

That I can't let people do anything for me because it never meets my ridiculously high standards in the end. Might as well get it done right by doing it yourself!

That I totally had brownies and wine for dinner last night. It was good for my stress levels. 

That I have to shop for work in order to scratch my shopping itch without actually spending any money. Best  part? I get to do the shopping at Hobby Lobby for gift bags - like my favorite thing to shop for.

That Hubs has to work on Valentine's Night. He's already given me my gift and I've got a plan on how to make the day special even with him working. Check out the card I made for him last year (this is actually the pin where I got the idea):

Here's the pin if you want it! 

And finally, it's okay that I am completely and utterly broke until payday. I don't necessarily need anything. I just like to buy things. I think it's good for me to not be able to buy anything for a little while.

What's okay in your life? 

Oh How Pinteresting!

Because I'm relatively new to the blogging world, I really haven't shown any of my crafty things that I love to do. Yesterday I found a great Link-Up to do just that! Enter:

My first post will catch you all up on the fun pins that I've tried out over the past year or so. A lot of times I just look at a picture of something then figure out how to do it on my own. I hope you forgive me if the link to the original pin doesn't have instructions! 

Original Pin

This was my first ever pin. I don't think I will be doing another one of these. It took way too long and I didn't really like how it turned out. I ended up making another UGA wreath (that I will show in just a sec) that I liked much better. This was one of the most expensive wreaths I've ever made. I don't think it was worth it.

Original Pin

I saw this pin and I knew I had to do something like it, but not exactly it. I had a bachelorette party coming up for one of my girlfriends and I knew exactly what to do. Everyone got one of these! They were so easy and turned out fantastic! I still use mine every now and then. 

Original Pin

This is one of my favorite crafts from Pinterest. It was easy, cheap and turned out great! The only downside was that it took quite a long time. Mostly because I had to hand-cut each of the strips of tulle. This is the point where I really started to love everything about Pinterest. 

Original Pin

My husband and I like to play this really embarrassing game in our toilet room. Every time we empty a toilet paper roll, we stack it on top of the huge pile of other empty toilet paper rolls to see how high we can get it before it tumbles. It's hilarious, yet so so sad. I saw this pin and just so happened to have a crap-ton on toilet paper rolls in a nice pyramid in our bathroom so off I went. I painted the strips silver after I cut them and before I glued them together. Then, I decided that it would look better (AND match our bedroom) if I put it on a black canvas. So, I did. It looks great!

Original Pin

I really like how this one turned out. If I had to go back and change one thing, I would definitely leave off the star thing that I hung in the middle of the wreath. It's faded now and I'm going to have to cut it off. It looked good for a little while, but not really worth the $2 I paid for it... :)

Original Pin

These are my favorite kinds of wreaths to make. I'm thinking about making them and selling them because I like to make them so much and they are SO cute. I've almost got all of my teams covered: Braves Baseball and Georgia Football. All I need is Falcons Football and maybe a NASCAR one if I'm feeling feisty. You guys have no idea how much I love making these. Even typing this now is making me want to do a Valentines wreath like these. I'm trying not to though because I want it to be different! 

I've gotten out of the arts-n-crafts groove lately but I think this has given me the motivation to get off of my butt and make something! What have you pinned lately?

5 for Five!

Time for another round of 5 for Five!

First, let's check back in on last week: 

1. Dust my house. I really hate dusting. You can guess if this got done or not. 

2. Walk Kimber twice. Yeah buddy! She LOVED it! 

3. Clean the Kitchen. I did this! AND, I kept it clean all week! 

4. Get my nails done. It's not that I didn't want to get this done, because I did. I just haven't made it to that side of town since I got paid... and now, I have no money left on the paycheck! Boo!

5. Make a Valentines wreath. I'm not feeling inspired! I don't know what it is, but I can't get into it. Now, Valentine's Day is next week and my door is as bare as ever. 

3/5. Not too shabby. 

Time to set some new goals! 

1. Find a hiding spot for Hubs' present. The present is on the way and I have no where to hide it! Any suggestions short of burying it in the yard are welcome! 

2. Hang my cute plate that I made with Maggie. I really want to hang this in my living room because it's super cute, but I need to get some ribbon that matches better! 

3. Figure out more fun things about my new phone! I'm obsessed with my phone and I just know I will love it even more after figuring out what exactly it can do! So far so good. Thanks again, Hubs!

4. Clean my rings. It's been a while since I've cleaned my wedding set. I'm ready to see them shine again. They deserve it, and quite frankly, so do I. :)

5. Find a new cover for my work phone. At work we just got new Blackberries which means I need a new cover. I love shopping for BB covers. Maybe I can find a silver glitter one to match my iPhone. Hmm.

What are your goals for this week? 

Best. Weekend. Ever.

I had an incredible weekend! Wanna hear about it? OF COURSE you do! 

Friday started out like any other day: at work. This week just happened to be one of the weeks that we had lunch together as a company on Friday. So, there's a good start right there. After eating lunch, I finished up what I had to do at work and rushed home to my man. It was date night! We went out to First Friday in Downtown Valdosta and had a great time! We ate dinner at Bleu Pub (best burgers ever!) and walked around to all of the shops to kill a little time before coming back home. 

We got home pretty early on Friday night so we got a GOOD night's sleep that night and woke up the next morning nice and refreshed. We went to the Verizon store because it was time for my upgrade! Ya'll, Hubs bought me an iPhone 5 and I am in love. L-O-V-E. I never thought that I would be an "Apple" girl, but OMG, this thing is SA-WEET! Hubs was even super nice and bought me this cover: 

It's silver glitter! How perfect! He's even played with it so much that I think he's gonna get one too! Facetime alone is worth it! I got to see my brother's puppy dog, Si, do some tricks yesterday! It was pretty neat! Also, selfies are SO much easier now! Bahaha!

After the fun of getting a new phone, the day wasn't even over yet! It was only 11am! Saturday, the Braves Caravan came through Valdosta and you better believe that I was in that line! For those of you that aren't familiar with Braves Caravan: every year before Spring Training, Braves players (current and former) start having autograph signings around the Southeast, mostly in Georgia. It lasts for about 12 days and it's pretty cool to get to meet the players. This year was the first year that they came to Valdosta. 

We had the pleasure of meeting (from closest to furthest) Eddie Perez (former catcher, current bullpen coach), Greg Walker (hitting coach), Phil FREAKING Niekro (knuckleballer extraordinaire), Ryan Klesko (LF and 1B - played for the Braves when we won the '95 World Series), David Hale (MS Braves pitcher), and Joe Simpson (Current Atlanta Braves broadcaster). We got 2 baseballs signed by everyone and we are now proud owners of this: 

It's beautiful, isn't it? Phil told me that this photo was taken on his last day in a Braves uniform. How cool! We're like BFFs now. I really need to buy a frame for this but until I do, it's in a safe place, away from all harm. Also at the Braves Caravan this happened: 

That's the Braves mascot "Homer", since we really can't have Chief Noc-a-Homa anymore because it's apparently politically incorrect while Washington is prancing around with the "Redskins" as their mascot and the Cleveland Indians have "Chief Wahoo". BUT, that's a soap box I will step on at another time. :) I did manage to get 2 free shirts and a koozie while I was standing in line! Can't beat free! 

That brings us to today. Superbowl Sunday. I've been mentally preparing myself for incredible amounts of greasy and sugar-packed foods to be consumed later by turning on 90's on 9 while cleaning and cooking. By cleaning I mean wiping up the mess I make while I'm cooking and by cooking I mean throwing some meatballs in the crockpot and mixing up some spinach dip and putting it in the fridge... ALRIGHT, so I'm being lazy. I admit it. Whatever. It's Sunday. Day of Rest, amirite? 

I'm pretty excited for a night of football, friends and funny commercials. Who wouldn't love that? For now, back to my 90's music. 

How was your weekend?