Happy New Year to all! Hope you all have safe and happy celebrations! Here's to a wonderful, healthy 2009!


Mmm...champagne... :)

My New Year's resolutions...

Since the end of the year is near, I've been thinking about my new year's resolutions. Since I hardly ever keep them, I thought that I would try really hard this year, but also give myself more attainable goals.

So here are my 2009 New Year's resolutions:

1. Go to the gym at least two times a week - since I've been going more than this, I figured this would give me something to live up to. Plus if I go more, I'm a super star and if I go just the two times that accounts for times when I'm not feeling great or whatever.

2. Kick caffeine out of my system - stop drinking Diet Coke basically. I'm working on it and down to no more than one a day (after that I feel yucky) and usually drink no more than three a week.

3. Get pregnant, or at least try! I figure a year is a good amount of time to try at this and then if it still hasn't happened by then, then we'll take an alternative route!

4. Menu plan - and stick to it. We are about 40% on this. And lately we've become lazy and do a lot of Subway for dinner or random crap that isn't healthy.

5. Save money - to go along with #3, getting pregnant for me = no paycheck when out on maternity leave. Therefore I have to save as much as I can now and budget and stretch things so I can be comfortable then.

6. Pay off credit cards - this is an easy one, as they'll 100% be paid off on January 15 in my next paycheck. But hey, it's still in 2009! :) From then on I'm a cash only gal!

7. Spend more time with friends and family - we're already planning on going back to see my parents and brothers in June for my older brother's wedding (more about that later), to Houston for a friend's wedding in July, and then to Peru in December for Christmas again. We're hoping that if I get pregnant, I'll either be 6 months or under for the Peru trip or have had the baby, as I don't think my cardiologist, and perinatologist would allow me to fly 15 hours to another country at 7 or 8 months pregnant with a heart condition. Something tells me that would be a big no-no in their minds.

8. Get a new place! We're currently looking, although Tito doesn't want to move until we need to (i.e. have to because I'm pregnant and we need the third room.) So hopefully we'll be moving this year! :)

9. Eat better - goes along with #4 and menu planning. If I plan it, I'll eat it rather than shoving just anything in my mouth (the other night I had cheese and crackers for dinner - not exactly healthy.)

10. Recycle more - the fact that they haven't picked the garbage up in 2.5 weeks has made me realize that Tito and I produce a lot of trash. 3 bags on average in a week for just the two of us and the cats. So I'm really working on getting a recycling set up that works...right now we have just paper, but don't really recycle cans/bottles/plastic/glass because our complex only has one "recycling" bin but it's just for paper.

Back to it

So there was Snowpocalypse 2008 where I worked from home for 5 days. Then there was Christmas. What does that equal? Basically two weeks out of my office. And when I was working from home, there was a lot of other multi-tasking being done (baking, cooking, organizing, watching tv, talking on the phone, etc.) so it wasn't all work. So now I'm back to it...although tomorrow is my last day of work this week.

Let's see, what's been going on?

• On December 18, I celebrated my 4 year wedding anniversary. Alone. Because my husband left early that morning (think 12am early) for Kansas and his youngest brother's college graduation. So I drank a glass or two of wine in celebration and was cooped up in the house as the snow/ice had begun. I can't believe it's been 4 years of marriage...sometimes it seems like so much longer. And I can't believe we've been together for 8 years now. Crazy. We were babies when we got together (he was only 20 and I was 23...made our dates fun cause he couldn't drink on them!)
  

• Christmas was good. Santa was very good to my husband, cats and I. I have to upload the photos from my camera and then I'll post some here. We went to mass at 4pm since the roads weren't so great, saw all the cute kids, and then came home where I proceeeded to start dinner. Since my husband is Peruvian, the tradition with them is to eat Christmas dinner at midnight on Christmas Eve. So I have participated in this tradition for the past 4 years we've been married. Dinner was done and served promptly at 12am, we ate and enjoyed and then opened presents then went to bed.
  

• Our "big" gift to one another this year (and anniversary present) was a new plasma tv. We spent most of Friday and Saturday looking for one and comparing at every store in WA I think. We finally found one..but this task wasn't made easy because not only were the roads crappy, but no one around here knows how to plow a parking lot, so each one was a virtual mine field of ice, snow, slush and gigantic puddles. I had cold feet for days since all of the lots soaked through my boots and left me chilly. Finally got the tv on Saturday and a good deal, and had to buy a new tv stand as well. I hated our old one so I was not upset.
  

• TV and stand are up and look great in our livingroom...old entertainment center is posted on craigslist, but no interest as of yet, so we're hoping soon. It's sitting in our livingroom behind a couch and driving me batty. I need it gone like yesterday!
  

• We are looking for a new place to live...house or townhome. 3 bedrooms. We're not in any hurry but would like to find something on the east side or north Seattle for under $1500 a month. I have a feeling we will be visiting a LOT of places.
  

• Doing our part to stimulate the economy, my husband has decided to buy his car he's been looking at this month or early next month. Which means we're finally back to two cars! He's been test driving everything under the sun so hopefully he makes his decision soon.
  

• I have to get my teeth cleaned soon...even though I take very good care of my teeth, I'm always afraid they're going to find a cavity which = pain for me. Not looking forward to this.
• My husband's 28th birthday is this Friday. We were planning this really fun 80's themed party (his favorite kind) where we would have all of our friends dress up to celebrate the era he was born in. Well the weather really put a kink in our party planning, so now we're planning a party at the end of the month. But he told me he wanted to go out to dinner or something to celebrate still. When I asked him where he said "Applebees or Olive Garden." Seriously. This man, whom I love, is definitely a quantity over quality type of man when it comes to food. If he could eat Chinese buffet everyday for $3 he would. Food poisoning be damned! So I'm trying to plan a surprise mini-party with two of our closest couple friends and us for Friday. Olive Garden style. And I've bought deep forest chocolate cupcakes for the occasion. His favorite cake, but I can't make it because it's too damn complicated and I have no free time. So hopefully he'll like it!

That's pretty much it...I want to go back to Mexico. Or move back to Florida. I'm cold and this winter seems worse than ever before. Or maybe I need a trip somewhere again? Just got an alert from TravelZoo that Southwest is having a sale on Las Vegas fares from $35 each way from Seattle. And then I checked it out and found a ticket to Orlando for $204. I miss the sunshine, but more importantly, I miss the warmth.

Snowpocalypse 2008

So I am working from home again today...for the 4th day! My couch is very comfy thank goodness! I went out to look at the snow this morning and see if I could brave it in. Nope...there's been little to no plowing and no sanding. I was slipping as I was walking on 5 inches of snow on top of ice.









My street. Normally very busy this time of day...only one car all the way down the street!



This is on the other side of my building (thank goodness!) the branches are so bowed they're almost touching the ground!

So I ventured out on Friday for a bit to get some groceries and storm supplies. We're due to have more snow tonight into tomorrow and winds as high as 70mph - 90mph! So I've got our storm kit out, some new candles and non-perishable essentials (i.e. Mint Milano cookies and wine!) I've got new magazines to read just in case also. And my parents gave us a portable propane heater last year, so I'll use that but we have the fireplace also, so I'll use that overnight. I'll pull my futon out in front of it and pile on the blankets and layers. But hopefully I won't need it!!

Ok here we go

So I'm attempting to upload some photos from my walk yesterday...



The view from my porch



Walkway to our building



Love in the snow...




And because they would love it, here are my animals in the holiday spirit...



Monet, one of Santa's lost reindeer



Eponine gets into the spirit as well




Monet with the tree



The tree and the fire...so cozy!

Happy Holidays!

So it's snowing right now in Seattle...the most it's snowed in the past three years I've lived here. We've got about 4 inches at my house and it's still snowing. I ventured out this morning at about 11am to go to the supermarket 1/2 mile from my house and get some food and stamps. The roads haven't been plowed and are full of slush which is sure to freeze tonight and make tomorrow morning's commute fun. I worked from home yesterday and am today as well, and if it's bad tomorrow, I'll work from home then as well. And we're supposed to get more snow on Sunday! Hopefully I'll be able to get out and about on Saturday though because I don't like being trapped in the house for that long.

I keep trying to get photos on here but for some reason Blogger isn't working...hopefully I'll be back later to post!

Brr....

Ok, I'm back from Mexico for 3 days now, and I'm FREEZING in my office. The thermostat says it's 72 in here...it's SO not. I can't feel my fingers, as they've gone numb. And even though my window is closed, I swear I feel a breeze. Hopefully it's just a chill in the air and not ghosts since my office is in an old church! :)

Maybe my blood got really thin being in Mexico...I live for warmth, and was actually pleasantly surprised when it was in the mid-50's yesterday, and this morning on my walk to the bus stop, I had to unbutton my jacket because I was getting a little hot. Now I freeze INSIDE! Isn't it supposed to be warmer inside rather than out?

We're back!

Back from Cabo! We had an AMAZING time! It was such a great belated honeymoon and we're so glad we went. There was a snafu a few days before the trip (involving me realizing my husband's passport was expired and him having to take a flight to San Francisco to the closest open Peruvian consulate (he's from Peru and doesn't have US citizenship yet.) but we got it straightened out, and happily were on our flight Sunday morning.

We arrived at the resort at about 3pm, and the rest of the week was spent eating, lounging by the pool/beach, drinking (all inclusive included all drinks even alcohol!) and just enjoying each others company. We took one day and walked the three miles on the beach into downtown Cabo and did some shopping, and then went into downtown Cabo twice to go dancing. The rest of the time we hung out at our resort, watched the performances by the staff, and it was great! We definitely would recommend anyone staying at the Riu Santa Fe or Riu Palace in Cabo (or any of the many other Riu locations!) The staff made us feel like royalty while we were there, the food was great, drinks were good, and it was a great atmosphere!

Here are a few photos:


Arriving in our room, we were greeted by some towel swans...












With our mini bar in the room


The beach past our infinity edge pool


Relaxing on the beach and watching my husband swim


Out in downtown Cabo at El Squid Roe


At Cabo Wabo...we had to go there...and no, I wasn't double fisting just holding the other drink.


At the pool bar


Getting ready to snorkel...where I ended up being stung by a jellyfish! Didn't pee on it though, just put packed hot sand onto it and it felt better


Who doesn't love a swim up bar??


Out Latin dancing at Las Quesadillas


The amazing sunset from our balcony on the last night. We sat out there with a drink and just watched the whole sky catch on fire...

Ok, back to real life... :)