A few thoughts as the end of summer nears

The boy and I.

Have had a rough summer.

• I didn't have a job going into it.
• I had to move – twice!
• My gallbladder was removed while I didn’t have health insurance. $$$$$ Recovery period = 30 days (July through early August)
• My aunt, who helped raise me, passed away.
• The boy had surgery to fix two hernias. Recovery period = 30 days (August through mid-September)
• I had to wake up to the boy throwing up because he got really sick one weekend. This is the first time he had thrown up in 10 years!
• We worried about paying the bills.
• We’ve had to learn to deal with each other’s pet peeves and bad habits.
• We’ve fought – and fought.
• We have continued to deal with the boy’s family’s drama, but on a much more limited scale. Still never fun.
• We’ve been super busy seeing lots of friends and family, traveling distances near and far. Sometimes the weekend trips to far distances were back to back weekends, sometimes back to back days.

But at the end of the day, I think the boy and I have been positive and remember all of the great things that have also happened for us. We are incredibly blessed and we truly learned that this summer. Some great things that have happened or helped us get through the months…

• We took Sebastian to the beach for the first (and last) time! He just hated it, but it was still fun to take a “family” trip.
• He asked my parents for my hand in marriage.
• We found a fantastic house to rent.
• We moved in together.
• I've had time for me.
• We got even closer – and continue to learn so much about each other every day.
• We’ve learned to say sorry – and to put arguments to rest just as quickly as they happen.
• We’ve both lost weight and eat much healthier!
• My family has been fantastic and so accepting of our relationship.
• We have amazingly supportive friends – some with whom we’ve grown even closer to.
• We have friends and family that love and care about us.
• We’re still so in love - and we say it more than ever.
• We laugh all the time.
• We are happy.

So, when I think about the hard times we’ve had, I am so thankful for all the great things that have happened and how they have helped us grow – not only as partners in this relationship, but also as friends, lovers and even as individuals.

I can’t wait to see what the rest of our lives hold.

Love you, Tim (and sometimes more than Sebastian).

Busy August

The last few weeks have been incredibly busy for me. We celebrated the boy’s birthday, he went back to work and he also had surgery. And I’ve been on the receiving end of all of that.

I prepped for his Harry Potter-themed birthday party. I attempted to create a version of the Book of Monsters from Harry Potter.

I've also handled household chores while he was at work and am currently nursing him.

On top of this, I baked more than 40 cupcakes for a bachelorette party this weekend.

I am also beginning to prepare the house for out of town guests coming for my sister’s wedding.

Whew!

My to-do lists only grows longer this week, so I finally took the time to write out some of things I HAVE to do this week.

• Decide on a groom’s cake that I’m going to bake for my brother-in-law
• Pick up and hope my bridesmaid dress fits
• Buy home essentials that I’ve been NEEDING to buy – like paper towels
• Get a great cake carrier – I had a great one from Martha Stewart but after this weekend, I’ve realized I need one that carries more than 24 cupcakes.
• Get cost estimates for our home office, especially a file cabinet
• Check out options for a liquor cabinet
• Find an inexpensive bookshelf for my serveware. This is my solution to having too many pieces!

Here's to a good week!

Summer List Update

Here is an update on my summer list.

Make fresh pasta.

• I need to go buy a pasta machine. A cheap one - and probably not a great one - costs about $30. It's worth a try, right? This one might be put on hold until further notice. The ideal situation would be for me to get a KitchenAid stand mixer and get attachments to make pasta. But that could be years down the road!

Make a REALLY pretty cupcake.

• I did get really close to this with the cupcakes I made for my sister's bachelorette party. I made red velvet cupcakes with pink cream cheese icing, topped with white whipped icing piping. I don't have pictures though! If I get some, I'll post them!

Try a recipe with an ingredient I’ve never used.

• I've used parsley this summer for the first time. I don't think I'm a fan. I also cooked with shallots - and they were incredible. I still want to try something a little more difficult though. Maybe a root here or there. I don't know. We'll see!

Use the steamer my mother bought me.

• Nope. I think I'm going to cook fish with this, but I haven't decided when yet.

Go out dancing in a fabulous outfit.

• I've gone out dancing twice already! But not in a fabulous outfit. I think I will just go ahead and say I can mark this one off though. Don't think fabulous and dancing will ever work out. I don't think I can stand wearing 4 to 6 inch heels that long!

Use the backyard for something – anything!

• I finally treated the backyard for mosquitos so we need to do something ASAP. Ugh. Maybe I'll go out there and read tomorrow or this weekend...

Find a new recipe to make a chocolate cake from scratch. The last one I made was just OK.

• Nope, not yet.

The end of summer is near

Here are some random thoughts of the night...

Best dad ever

Seriously, my dad is pretty much the most amazing person ever. Without me even asking, he brought dirt for my garden this week. I have a container garden that is about 2-3 inches into the ground, and then 9-10 inches above it. I did this because the area is sloped. Overall, I think it looks good and would be usable – if we could fill it with good garden dirt (if you dig too far down, you hit clay dirt – which is very common in this area).

The boy and I had been trying to decide what our best option would be for dirt and trying to figure out how much that would cost. Well, my dad just saved us a ton of money – and my garden is ready for plants! We put in my two basil plants and my dad is bringing me green onion (and hopefully mint!) this weekend. I am excited to go buy other plants, including Thai basil, for my garden.

And as a side note, my dad told me I was pretty much crazy for trying to grow cilantro right now. He said it was too hot.

My disgusting feet after we finished gardening. Can you tell where my shoes/socks stopped and my legs started? LOL

Other random thoughts for the day...

Garden inspiration

One thing I enjoyed doing while I was recovering at my parent’s house was taking long walks. They live way out in the country and on 4 acres. I absolutely love and admire my parent’s hard work around the house, especially their gardens. I remember how much I used to love working with them in the garden, which is why I want to have my own. Here are a few pictures I took while I was taking my afternoon walks.

Another week, another list

1. When did it become August?

2. Look at this sweet face. Love him.
3. When can I have alcohol again? I want a beer SO bad.

4. I should not cheat on my diet. I felt so sick on Sunday and yesterday. In fact, I did not eat lunch and just ate a light soup for dinner yesterday, and I feel so much better today. I guess I just needed to get everything out of my system. Back on the chicken and rice diet today. I did not each lunch, but I’m not even hungry. Arg. I need a regular schedule again.

5. But on a positive note, I’m able to sleep now. For a while there, I was having a hard time sleeping because of the neighbors’ dogs right outside my window. As of yesterday, I have officially moved into Sebastian’s room – and he is now in my old room. It really makes a huge difference and I’ve actually slept in the last two days!

6. I need to clear out my DVR but I am so tired of sitting in front of the TV all day long. I’m now watching Nick & Vanessa’s Dream wedding on TLC. Which reminds me, I really liked Nick Lachey’s album, What’s Left of Me.

7. I am tired of making food that the boy’s not going to eat. Yesterday, I threw away a cobbler, about 10 cupcakes, a salad and some fruits.

8. My garden is a little bit closer to being done! I finished outlining and digging out my garden yesterday. Now, I just need to get dirt and to start planting!

9. I feel like I’m not going to get through my summer list. Boo. I hate that I had my surgery because I feel like it’s put a dent in a lot of things I wanted to do this summer.

10. I like that I get my medical bills separately. It doesn’t seem like so much when it’s only $100 here and $90 here and $400 here.

11. Is it bad that I want to see the Glee In Concert movie? LOL