Pause

I'm just going to take a (hopefully short) break from my blog for awhile. Everything in my life is a complete and utter disaster. I don't have anything positive to write about. If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. So I'm not going to say anything.

See you on the other side.

Picture Recap

I'm too busy to type, but I feel bad for neglecting my blog. So here's what I've been up to.... in pictures (with tiny explanations).
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Friday: Along with Job #1...

Seetha-approved

My first whole milk latte. It was delicious. Treated myself after my knee surgeon appointment on Friday morning. No additional injections (for now). Back to PT.

Will

Anna

Rose

Birthday celebration lunch for Andy (his birthday was actually on Monday, but he's been out of town). Had fun drawing on the paper table covering... these were done without looking once while I was drawing, haha.

Later that night we all went ice skating (except Andy who had rehearsal).

Rose, Lisa, and Anna

Anna "Kerrigan"

Barbara "Baiul"

Vinyasa scarf buddies

Will and Rose - Ice Dancing Spectacular!

Once Andy's rehearsal was over he met us back over at Anna's where he was reunited with his long lost love - Poco.

Andy Boy and Poco Gurl

Saturday: After Job #2...

Bridesmaid dress shopping with Sarah and Ali.

These were not the winners

Followed by sleepover with Ali. She helped me SO much with my Save the Dates and Invitations.

I don't know why I'm being weird.

Sunday:

Took Ali to Sarah's zumba class. Very fun. Knee hurt. Was suuuper lazy after Ali went home. Then went to Will and Rose's for a super girly hang while watching Downton Abbey. Will did not participate in the girliness.

Rose and Lisa

Anna - You pick color!!

Monday:

CLEANED. Room reveal.

Bedroom - Colors look strange in photo

Also participated in a research study at Xerox to the tune of $125. Cha-ching! Ended the day with grocery shopping and cooking/prepping TONS of food for the week.

Breakfast this week: (very proud of this)

Smoothie w/Spinach

It tastes A LOT better than it looks

State of the Union (Union = Babs): Totally stressed with the amount of work I have to do and feeling like my time is being taken advantage of at Job #1, which prevents me from doing that work. Totally stressed about the wedding. Totally stressed about my body - obviously no time to exercise when Job #1 says, "Oh and by the way, you will stay until 10pm tonight doing concert duty. We don't care that you wanted to go to Bikram." (Job #1 didn't really say that about Bikram). Ok, I have to stop typing because like I've said... no time.

Wish me luck...

Back on Track

With Seetha's help, I'm back on track. Food has been good. I've done some sort of exercise every day. Sleep has been decent. I'm starting to feel like myself again, which is a very good thing.

Most importantly (besides getting back on track), my Kate Spade purse and wallet came out to make their debut this week. The leather is sooooooo soft. When I showed "her" to Kristin and Ted at Job #2, I insisted they both feel how soft it was. Ted was quite taken...

Ted: Phlebotomist by day, Price is Right model by night

Anyway, here's a quick look at what's been going on...

Monday: Job #1. Yoga with Rose. Home for dinner with Andy. Then we watched "Hungry for Change," which was just as good the second time as the first. Bed.

Tuesday: Job #1. Job #2. Short bike workout while watching "My 600 Pound Life" on TLC (so gross/fascinating). Bed.

Wednesday: Job #1. Return to Bikram!!!! Home for dinner with Andy. Early bedtime - read for awhile before going to sleep.

And now we're to today! My Thursday looks a lot like my Tuesday this week.... Job #1 and #2.... some sort of exercise post Job #2 if I have enough energy...

Hmm... what else is going on...

Today Andy starts rehearsing for a little East Coast tour that he's going on, which means our friend Dieter will be staying at our place for a few days before and after their trip. We went to Eastman with Dieter - he is an incredible classical guitarist. I really hope he plays while he's at our place!

Saturday is bridesmaid dress shopping! I think it will be fun, but also hard - I'm not the best at making decisions...

And Monday is Andy's birthday! Since he'll be out of town I think we will be celebrating a little early.

Ok, back to work... have a good day! :-)

Weekend Update

Sorry for the delayed weekend update. Yesterday seemed to fly by and I just never quite got around to it. So! Let's catch up.

Friday I worked Job #1 - it was a very busy/productive week. After work I headed home and Sarah came over! We had paleo sheppherd's pie for dinner (that she prepared earlier in the day and brought over... so nice) and then spent a gajillion hours/brain cells trying to put together a puzzle she got for Christmas. It was so hard!!

That's as far as we got...

On Saturday morning I worked Job #2. Now something I hadn't mentioned in my blog was that over the last week I had reached out to Seetha through email and text several times, but never heard anything back from her. :-( I was really upset to be honest. She is so important to me - I'm not willing to let that relationship go! Thankfully while I was working on Saturday, she came up to the desk! She said, "I hope you haven't been trying to get a hold of me... my phone has stopped working and I've lost all my contacts, can't open emails, etc." Hooray!!!! And in true amazing Seetha fashion, as soon as I told her I wasn't doing well, she immediately asked if we could get together THAT day. I couldn't, but we made plans to meet on Sunday. I know it's stupid... I should be able to do this myself... but it felt like such a weight had been lifted off my shoulders to know that she was back in my life. :-)

As soon as my shift was over I swung by Alyssa's to pick her up, and we were off to my wedding cake consultation! It was SO much fun - definitely the least stressful of all the wedding activities so far. The baker lady was so nice, the cakes looked great, and they were affordable. Sold! At the end of the appointment they sent me home with a box of samples for Andy and I to try.

Box from Heaven

The cakes were all very good. I'm not sure we've 100% made a decision on which flavors we'll go with, but the good news is, no matter what we choose, it will taste great.

On Saturday night, Rose and I went to see Andy and Will's concert - Cirque de la Symphonie. It was a sold out show and the performers were amazing! I'm glad she and I were able to go together. :-)

Standing Ovation!

After the concert (and a quick trip to Wegmans), Will, Rose, and Anna all came over. We had a late night food fest - including the leftover wedding cake (Anna and Will's thoughts lined right up with ours). Knowing I was meeting with Seetha, I used Saturday as a "last chance" to eat everything I knew she'd tell me not to eat.

Sunday came - I slept in pretty late because we stayed up so late the night before. Then I threw on clothes and went to the gym. I met my friend Elizabeth and we did an hour of cardio (bike and elliptical)... it felt good to workout again (it had been a whole week). The afternoon was spent at a youth orchestra rehearsal for Job #1 - I really hate when I have Job #1 things on the weekend... especially on a Sunday since it's my ONLY day off of the week. That ended up lasting a lot longer than I thought, so as soon as I finished with that I flew to my appointment with Seetha.

Now the best part of my weekend!!! Seetha and I met at Starbucks for about an hour and a half. It was so good to talk her again. :-) We reviewed my week, what I ate, why I thought it turned out to be a bad food week... Then she had me tell her how I was able to successfully give up Diet Coke. By using the info from those two topics, she created a new plan for me as far as "cheat" days that I am really excited to try. And the best part of meeting with her? She didn't have to tell me to do a juice cleanse the next day because... I was already doing it on Sunday! I knew she'd tell me to do it, so I got a head start. ;-)

Ok so that's basically the weekend in a nut shell. It was a lot of fun, there was a lot of food, but thankfully it ended with quality time with Seetha and a new resolve to get back on track.

Book Club

I really should re-title the name of my blog considering I don't run anymore (and frankly don't see much running in my future). But what to call it? The only thing that seems constant at this point is wedding planning... I guess that means I should change it to BrideBabs? We'll see.

Anyway, last night I was BookBabs as I attended my first "Mind Body Book Club" discussion. It wasn't much of a discussion between the people in the book club though, because we had a really neat opportunity to skype with the author instead. He talked almost non-stop for an entire hour! I found what he had to say really interesting, and hearing from him first-hand made me like his book a LOT more. I enjoyed reading it but I don't think I would have run around recommending it to everyone. However, I would recommend people listen to him speak anyday!

Waking - by Matthew Sanford

Matthew Sanford Live!!

In his book, Matthew talks a lot about the "silence" within each person. He described it as what you feel when you look at the Grand Canyon or see a sunset - like a feeling of "awe" when you are both appreciating the beauty of life and recognizing your own insignificance at the same time. According to him, a person's strength lies in their silence... not their muscles, not even their willpower, but in their ability to tap into the silence within. It's an interesting thought.

Two of the other things he mentioned quickly but that struck a chord with me were 1) "should" never turns out to be a very motivating word, and 2) no matter what, your body always goes towards living - it's your mind that waivers. I think those both meant something extra to me last night as I've been struggling with my food/body issues. I "should" juice/eat better/exercise certainly isn't getting me anywhere, and my body wants healthy foods! It's my mind that's driving me to pollute my body. Good thing I have my wedding cake tasting tomorrow.... ugh.

Maybe I should try a new trick - every time I want to eat baddies I should read instead. Lord knows I have enough books going on right now...

You could say I have a wide range of materials...

In addition to the books in the picture I was reading an intro to Ayurveda (I say was because I can't seem to find it at the moment). And also we got assigned a new book for book club last night - "The Gifts of Imperfection." Sounds like something I could use right about now...

Looking ahead: Sarah's coming over tonight. She's cooking us dinner as I type this. ;-) And I think we're going to do a puzzle she got! Laugh all you want but I think it sounds like an awesome Friday night. Saturday I work Job #2, then cake tasting, and then going to see Andy and Will's concert with Rose. I'm actually really excited for that - it's Cirque de la Symphony, so Cirque performers do their thing on stage while the orchestra accompanies them. Very cool! On Sunday I actually have to show up for a rehearsal for Job #1 (barf) but thankfully it's not too long, leaving me plenty of time to figure out how on earth I'm going to get back on track.

Oh, one last thing! Ted split his pants at Job #2 on Tuesday night. :-) You're welcome Ted.

Greetings from the Arctic Circle

It's freeeeeeeeeeeeeeezing cold here. I'm going to change my name to Brrrrrrbara, haha, get it?? ;-)

My dashboard as I was leaving for work on Tuesday...

So yeah, there's not much to write besides the fact that I've been freezing my tookus off and eating like I'm preparing for hibernation. Unfortunately my tookus is not actually falling off (or even getting smaller), and while I might be eating like I'll hibernate, I'll most certainly be staying awake during the daytime... and eating more.

Job #2 last night was actually fun as I was a bad employee and spent more time talking to Kristin and Ted while eating animal crackers than making sure the members were "taken care of," but come on... you shouldn't come to the gym if it's this cold. Stay home! With the doors opening all night long, we ended up adding different combinations of hats, scarfs, and coats to our uniform. Kristin and I got many compliments on our similar hats!

Kristin and Babs!

That's about all I have to report from the Arctic Circle known as Western New York. In addition to having a gajillion things I'm working on at Job #1, I've also made a lot of wedding headway these last couple of days. Perhaps I'll catch you all up in my next post. :-)

Stay warm!!

First Weekend of the New Year

Ok, so rewind to the weekend... remember my mom left on Friday morning? Well, her bed didn't stay empty long.... During the day, Andy let me know his friend James and James' girlfriend Shelley would be staying the night with us. To make a long story short, they needed a place to stay due to the airport mess caused by all the snow that hit the East Coast. So I washed the sheets, Andy fired up the grill, and we hung out on Friday night.

Andy, James, and Shelley

  

On Saturday morning I made my return to Job #2, but only briefly because we had Mr. Grant's wedding to go to that afternoon. For those of you that don't know, Andy started taking clarinet lessons with Mr. Grant in high school, then again when he got his masters at Eastman. Now they play in the orchestra together. They go back a loooong way. Mr. Grant's wife died of earlier onset Alzheimers about a year ago. To see him so happy and getting a second chance at love was incredibly moving.

Kathy and Kenny (Mr. Grant)

  

The ceremony was really touching. The reception was just right around the corner from where we live, so that was nice and convenient too. Thankfully Will and Rose were there too. We were by far the youngest people in attendance. I was so glad to have their company.

Andy and Babs

Rose and Will

The wedding was an afternoon wedding - by the time we left we were starving (there weren't too many starch free options for me or gluten free options for Rose). We did a quick change into comfy clothes and then headed to Will and Rose's for a feast! Chicken sausage, butter chicken, brussel sprouts, kale, butternut squash, green beans, asian veggies, and..... TONS of gluten free chocolate krinkle cookies and ice cream. I ate waaaaaay too many cookies. We also ended up watching a movie called "Don Jon." It was strange...

Sunday I woke up determined to have a healthy day, and for the most part I really did! I worked on putting some laundry away... I even found my 12 items that I am donating this month. 

12 items in January - check!

Andy and I also did a little grocery shopping to get prepared for the week. I went to the gym. I cooked a pot roast for dinner (Lisa came over and ate with us!). And finally the moment I had been waiting for... we watched the first episode of the new season of Downton Abbey!!!! Granted, I ate a ton of chocolate covered almonds that Lisa had brought over while watching the show, but is that really sooo bad? Maybe I shouldn't be surprised that the scale is going up.... ugh.

So all in all, it was a good weekend with a mix of fun, productivity, and good... citizenship? deeds? Whatever you call housing two last minute guests. 

And now it's Monday. Even though I went to Job #1 on Friday, it feels like today really marks the return to normalcy. Aaaand I'm super grumpy. I think I just need more sleep. In the words of Seetha, "You just need to pause and take a nap." She's so right!

Back to the Grind

My mom left to go back to Washington this morning. I was SO sad to see her go. I loved having her here, we got so much accomplished, and even more so... I realized how much there is left to do, and I sure wish she were here to do it with me. But that's life I guess - time to get back to my normal routine... at least I'm looking forward to returning to regular exercise!

Here's a look back at our last two days together....

On New Year's Day we all slept in a little bit after our very late night. Then my mom, Andy, and I headed out for the shopping trip from hell. Mission: bedroom curtains. Problem: I love all things neutral... white, gray, taupe... love it. Andy on the other hand said he does not want to live in a hospital for the rest of his life. Ugh. We looked for HOURS. My knee hurt from all of the walking around. I was so frustrated. This was no way to start the year! Finally we gave up and went home to make dinner.

You might remember our tradition on New Year's Day is to have "Good Luck Pot." It's basically a chili made with black eyed peas, stewed tomatoes, and breakfast sausage... it's delicious, and yes, I broke my "no starch" rule to have a bowl.

Well, that Good Luck Pot did the trick because after dinner my mom and I went to Target and found EVERYTHING for the bedroom... curtains, pillows, and a rug. I'll post a picture as soon as I find a place for all of my clothes, but let me tell you... our bedroom looks GOOD.

The next day our plan was to go cake tasting in Ithaca. Thanks to a ton of snow, that trip got cancelled. Since we never get tons of snow in Washington (except the mountains) my mom had fun shoveling. :-)

Shovellin' Kay

Instead my mom and I had lunch with Sarah and her mom. :-) Then we did a little grocery shopping and spent the rest of the day holed up inside, which was actually good because it gave us an excuse to finally sit down and start working on the invitations for the wedding. Those are going to take a lot longer than I originally anticipated...

And here I am, back at Job #1, although I must say it was much nicer to come to my freshly decorated office ON TIME. Take that New Year's Resolution! Off to a meeting... back at it already.

TGI2014!!!!

Happy New Year! I've been waiting for this day for a looooong time. 2012 was a great year - Andy and I ran our first marathon and got engaged. I'm pretty sure I got a nice promotion that year too. I knew 2013 would probably pale in comparison to 2012, but I had know idea it would be as bad as it was!

The worst part of the year for me? Definitely dealing with my knee. I had surgery. But I wasn't the only one to have surgery. My mom had surgery. My dad had surgery. My grandpa had surgery. My aunt had surgery. My Mema was in the hospital for a month (almost didn't make it). Seriously?! And thankfully for me, mine was the easiest, least risky surgery of all. My family definitely deserves a better year this year.

The best part of my year? Meeting Seetha. Hands down.

If this last week is any indication of how the New Year will be, then I think I'm relatively safe from a 2013 repeat. Lots of good things have been going on - here's a recap, mostly in pictures. I wish I would have written earlier so I could say more, but I don't want the post to drag on too long!

Christmas day ended with some non-traditional Christmas drinks.

A new take on beer goggles

Ali had the "great" idea to do shots of Apple Cider Vinegar...

I can't believe I did it....

Cindy took it like a champ!

The next morning my mom arrived! Her first two days here consisted of a trip to see our wedding venue, appointments with two florists, and a trip to try on the wedding dress I liked best from when I went shopping with friends back in September (she tried hard to like it but I could tell she still wasn't nuts about it).

Then on December 27th.... GREAT news!!! Nicole had her little boy!!!

Welcome to the world Leif Arthur Hovland!!!!

Proud Papa Matt :-)

Nichi - I'm so freaking proud/amazed/ecstatic for you!! I know you will be a GREAT mom. :-)

Fast forward through the next few days of my mom's visit here... we did a LOT of wedding dress shopping. A LOT. I tried on so many - at each place I'd try to convince myself that I had found my dress - but there was always something about each one I wasn't crazy about. Friends... I was getting stressed. Thankfully on Monday morning I finally found my dress!!!! And there isn't one thing about it I don't like. Phew!!!! While I'm really excited to wear it again for the big day, at this point I am mostly just feeling relief because I was really stressing that I would never really find anything I loved. Yay! I said YES to the dress!!!

My mom and Andy were also suuuuuper helpful in getting my office decorated. I got some fabric about a year and a half ago. Now it's finally hanging on my walls. :-) I wouldn't say I'm looking forward to going back to work, but having a nicely decorated office will certainly make it easier.

Nice and Bright!

We also managed to get (almost) all of the parts to our invitations printed so they just need to be assembled. And my mom's been incredibly helpful in getting our bedrooms more put together.

Last night was New Year's Eve. We all headed to Buffalo to have dinner with Andy's family. It was really nice and I had a lot of fun sitting around the table with my mom, Andy's mom, and sister talking about wedding details. I'm lucky that everyone involved is happy and positive about the whole experience. No "zillas" in the crowd!

Later that night we headed up to Niagara Falls (Canada) to ring in the new year at the casino. It wouldn't be a visit with my mom without a trip to a casino somewhere!! The one in Niagara Falls is really nice.

Inside the casino

Weird fountain

Niagara Falls (Canada Side)

Unfortunately we did not win any money, but we did all our gambling in 2013, so I'd like to think I left all that bad luck behind. Then we went outside (quickly because it was freezing) for the fireworks.

Happy New Year Andy and Babs!

Happy New Year Mom!!!

The drive home was less than desired. It took us an hour to get out of the parking garage. It took another hour to get back across the border. Needless to say, I finally fell in bed at 4:45am. Good Lord.

And here it is - the "morning" of the New Year. I'm a little more tired/cranky/headachy than I would like to start off, but I think it's pretty understandable considering the amount of sleep I had last night. And of course I've made a resolution (two actually). 1) Get to work on time. I have to fix this. 2) Get rid of clothes. My plan is to get rid of 12 things in January, 11 things in February, 10 things in March, etc... by the end of the year I'll have donated 78 articles of clothing. And yes, I really do have that many that I can donate.

Now you're up to date! I hope you all have a fantastic New Year. :-)