The Blues

I feel like I need to somehow chronicle what a mess I've made of planning my wedding, but I don't have the time for it at this moment. I want to do it though because I've learned a lot in the past couple months and I don't want to forget these lessons. I figured what better place but my blog? More later.

The high wore off

I was probably riding the engagement high during the blip of consistant blogging. No suprise I fell off my pony. I enjoy reading other people's blogs way too much. I discovered Google Reader and the blogging just stopped. I follow some stupid amount of blogs that until recently I have been keeping up with. So what happened in May, June and July?
MAY

I can't really think of anything remarkable except that Bryan and I decided to move out of our efficiency because we thought he had a new job lined up.

JUNE

Again, nothing really significant except it was a tough month for me emotionally, I'm trying to recover from that.

JULY

We moved! Into our 2 bedroom apartment in the sky! Our cat doesn't seem to be taking the move well, but I think he's improving and calming down. It is so less stressful for us to have room to breathe, we aren't right on top of each other anymore! That alone has improved my mood tons. Oh and we decided we didn't want to wait until next October to wed. So we're in the process of finding a venue for December 31st. We have one place already on hold for us, but we want to check out one more place on the water to see if it'll work in our budget.

I'm trying really hard to relax more and not worry so much. For instance, this weekend we're going camping at Rehoboth Beach. Impulsively I decided to book a hotel room on the boardwalk in Ocean City and leave a night early. I got an incredible deal and now I'm super excited to leave!! Bryan and I have never been to the beach together so we're eagerly anticipating the new experiences to be had.

I just found out my D40 has a wireless shutter release remote so I really wish we had it for this weekend but maybe we can use the timer and get a few shots. I wanted his mom to take some engagement photos for us but she is leaving for Europa next week and doesn't have time. But I think we need to send out Save the Dates since the wedding will be on a sort of Holiday. We were going to skip them, oh well.

So all my wedding excited-ness will probably come out in this blog because besides Bryan I really don't talk about it much to anyone else. Hopefully, the 31st will work out!

Oh and Bryan is going to start selling those fancy BOSE Noise Quieting Headphones so if anyone wants a pair half off, see me or him!! It'll go to helping our wedding!!

Frugal or Green?

Or both! I'm realizing that my mother's old frugal ways are today's eco-friendly habits. I used to think my mom was weird for reusing zip loc bags, but now I find myself doing the same thing to cut down on waste. Also like keeping rags handing for cleaning. Luckily, these habits save money too! So lately I find myself thinking of ways my mother used to cut corners and reuse things for a different use. My mother also kept plastic butter containers to store left overs. Though I hated peeking inside butter containers in fear of finding moldy food (yeah...my mom worked full time) and it takes Bryan and I over a month to use up an entire butter container, maybe I'll start keeping an eye out for useful, reusable containers.

I also find myself gravitating to green wedding blogs, too. Now that our wedding is becoming more and more simplified due to funding I am going to enjoy finding ways I can add hand-made detail to our wedding. I haven't really been very artistic in the past, but I also haven't really had ways to apply my limited artistic talent. So I'm hoping it shines for our wedding.

For the time being I'll be focused on different design....for our new apartment! We will pretty much know in about a week whether or not we're moving in July. We reserved a 2 bdrm right down the street from us yesterday. It's very white and boring so now I'll be on the hunt for affordable and hopefully green ways we can decorate our apartment. Paint will definitely be needed. I'm excited to have a short term tangible goal to focus on, I've needed that for some time.

Happy Birthday!!

Today is my really awesome sister in law's birthday! Mary is an exceptional wife, mother, woman, friend and so on. She blogs over at My Thinking Chair and it is worth a read to see my adorable nieces! Also, she has her own Etsy store called Banana Bear Boutique. She and her friend make hair bows, baby burpies, gift sets, clothes, I Spy bags and more. If I ever have a baby shower gift to buy, I know I'll go to her store and feel good buying something handmade of great quality. Happy Birthday, Mary!!!

Bike Ride

Finally, the weather was really warm this weekend. On Saturday we went to the National Zoo. We arrived later in the day so we missed the lions and tigers, but it was still nice to get out. It was really crowded there, but we got to see a huge hippo (what other size are they, really?) at eating time. I got some good pictures from that.

Yesterday, we got some cleaning done and rearranged some furniture. Then, I got the bright idea to go for a bike ride. So we rode around Piney Orchard and I could barely make it home. The hills and dry air nearly killed me (or so I felt). I can't believe how out of shape I am. Bryan said the back tire on the bike I was riding was pretty flat, but still.

My brother gave me some pointers on the Motivational Statement for the Navy application. Hopefully, I will work up the nerve to call this other recruiter. Somethings seems funny about him, but a phone call can't hurt me. Otherwise, I'm just trying to plug away and keep all doors open to new opportunities.

Foodie?

Last night B and I ate at Chili's and we didn't enjoy it. I find more and more that I do not enjoy eating out a chain restaurants anymore (besides mexican!! hello chipotle!). I just felt gross and bloated after I left. I might have already shared this once, but I'm going to share it again:



It truly is a great site. I receive daily e-mails from them and she covers EVERYTHING. She has recipes for restaurant swaps, reviews on new low-cal products, quick and easy recipes, awesome drinks and fast food restaurant reviews. There is more, but that is all I could think of off the top of my head.

In February or March I also bought a copy of this magazine:



B and I probably ate from this magazine for 2 weeks, that is how many easy recipes there were inside. Dare I say, I like it more than the Food Network Magazine, which by the way I haven't gotten the next issue of in the mail. Food Network is good for more elegant, planned meals. But Clean Eating actually had week night friendly recipes and we felt GOOD eating them.

Bed Frames

Woke up in a terrible mood this morning.
One: the bed is falling apart (on my side) so the matress dips in uncomfortable places.
Two: had bad dreams about b and i
Three: sick of our crowded apartment

We are busting out of the seams. I was looking all morning at rentals, but I can't find anything. It's really frustrating. Hopefully B will start a new job soon and we'll have a bigger budget to work with. I wanted to put off moving until I knew whether or not I had a chance to go into the Navy. But I'm miserable in this home. Besides I'm tackling the Navy at a snails pace. I sent another e-mail to my recruiter and he's out of the office until tomorrow. So yeah things are moving right along. I'm trying to get all the annoying paperwork out of the way and then I can focus on the fitness and studying. There are just so many things on our plates right now I'm trying to take one piece at a time so I don't become totally overwhelmed.

So I'm looking for a new bed frame on IKEA this morning. Nothing really caught my eye. I've always gotten my furniture from them, if anyone is aware of another affordable furniture retailer; let me know!