Valentimes Day

Yes, I know I named this post ValentiMes Day. For whatever reason, probably because I am a big dork, I like to call it that. And that is what some of my little cheerleaders call it, too. Today was a long, but great day!
It started with my normal Saturday morning routine. Wake up, jump in the shower and quickly get ready to head to the South County YMCA to coach cheerleading. I love this job! It is so rewarding and fun! All of the girls are great. I could only stay for an hour of practice because I had an appointment for my trial run for my hairdo for the wedding.

So, I left practice and headed over to my hairdresser. Her name is Denise and she is great! My best friend Shayna has been going to her for years, but I just started going to her this past year. She did my hair for Shayna's wedding and I loved the way she did it, so when I got engaged I immediately called for an appointment with her to get my hair under control. When I got there we went over how I wanted to wear my hair and I showed her my tiara and veil and then she got to work. As you can tell by the pictures it is going to be half up with lots of curls. I absolutely love it! It is kind of hard to tell from the pictures, but everyone wanted to see it, so I attached them anyway.

After I got my hair done I had her leave it the way it was, minus the tiara and veil of course, so I would have pretty done up hair for Bryan and I's Valentine's date later that night. On my way home I had to stop at PetCo to pick up some dog food and I also needed to get Sarge a new "Tuffy Dog". This is a line of toys that are stronger than your average dog toy, which is perfect for my little 8 pound weiner dog. He lives to tear his toys apart. He still manages to do that with these toys, but it takes him a while longer. He also forms a serious bond with them and will carry them all over the house. It killed me to have to throw away his old tuffy dog when I got home because of how much he loved it, but it was disgusting and needed to go. Since Sarge got a new toy I had to get a new one for Lucy as well. She loves bones, so I got her a pink nylabone and she loves it.

When I got home Bryan was cleaning the house, his usual weekend thing, so I helped out a little and then settled on the couch to read my new book that my employee/friend Lindsey gave me. It is a new vampire series and I am on the first book. It is called "Marked" and I am entralled. I can't put it down. After a little reading I took the dogs for a mile walk. Since it was chilly I put Sarge's windbreaker on him. He is so tiny, he gets so cold! Well, our walk ended up being a 1/2 mile walk, 1/2 mile run because Lucy loves to be outside and loves to run! Our condo backs up to Vianney so we have a little loop that we also do and that the dogs know really well. It is nice because it is like I don't even have to really walk them, because they know exactly where to go.

When we got home I freshened up and got ready to go out to dinner for Valentine's day.

Bryan had made reservations at Macaroni Grill and we had a great dinner. I hesitate to say it, but we discussed names for our unborn children. WOAH!!!! Then we went home and got into our PJ's and cuddled on the couch with the dogs and watched the movie Twilight. I love that movie and the book series and to my surprise Bryan like the movie, too. All in all we had a great night.

So much stuff.....

Alrighty people, sorry it has been awhile. There has just been so much stuff to do. In the last 2 weeks since I have written I have had an unexpected funeral to go to, an awesome superbowl party at our house, followed by a week of being very, very sick!
I can't even begin to go into the funeral except to say that I will never understand suicide.
I will however talk about our Superbowl party. It is Bryan and I's annual Superbowl party that we host. The very first one was at my old condo and it consisted of myself, Bryan, Matt, Andrew and I think Amanda was there, too. This was our fourth annual Superbowl party, third annual at the new condo and by far the smoothest one we have had yet. We actually began cleaning and preparing earlier in the week and Saturday night I was smart and pre-made what I could. I was so proud of myself because for once when people began arriving I wasn't frantically finishing in the kitchen and then rushing upstairs to get ready. I was actually calmly putting finishing touches on things in the kitchen and was already dressed and ready to party. I even got to watch a good portion of the game. It is so fun to see how much our parties have changed over the past four years. The first year it was beer and loud and just us friends. This year it was beer and loud and sippy cups and kids and pregnant friends! But it was so much fun! It is nice to know that as all of my friends and I grow and our families grow that we can still get together and have a good time and our kids will grow up together.
The very next day after the Superbowl party I woke up with a migraine and not feeling well. I dragged myself to work and only made it until 11am. I went home and continued to feel worse and worse and running a fever. The next day my fever was higher, 102, and I could barely get out of bed. Later that night I called my cousin Justin, who is in med school, and told him my symptoms and asked for advice. Once he gave me the never ending list of meds to take I sent Bryan to Walgreens. The meds somewhat helped, but I felt like what I really needed was to sleep, but I couldn't because I was so stuffed up. If I layed down my nose clogged up and I couldn't breathe. However, if I sat up my nose began to run like a faucet. It was a no win situation. Finally on Thursday I went to my doctor. I still had my fever, so they did a flu test which came back negative. The doctor decided I had a bronchial virus and gave me a breathing treatment while I was in the office. She then put me on a nasal spray, inhaler and a 5 day antibiotic just in case. Friday I immediately began to feel better and even made it in to work for a half a day. I also was able to attend the shower that night that my employees had put together for me. The shower was wonderful and I got a lot of great gifts.
Now fast forward to this week. On Tuesday I had my final dress fitting. My sister went with me so she could learn how to do my bustle and also pick up her dress and get any alterations done that she needed. This time, I LOVED my dress again. It looks great and I am so very excited about my dress, again. As Amanda says, I must have just been having an off day that day I tried my dress on and had my meltdown. My sister also looked great in her dress. I love the color I picked for the bridesmaid dresses. It looks so good on all the girls. I am so excited to see all of them in their dresses on the wedding day.
On Wednesday, I had a mandatory meeting with my staff to inform them that the company we work for has been bought out by another company. This was NOT a fun meeting because the girls quickly put together that about half of them would end up without a job because the new company only had 7 openings available. For those of you who are reading this and worrying about me, don't. I have a job. The new company offered me a position with them as well. I will be what they call a CRC which basically means I will be doing marketing for our three physical therapy sites. I am excited about the position even though my degrees are in management and finance. I think this will be an exciting new journey and an opportunity for me to learn a lot of new skills.
Yesterday was my mom and dad's 37th anniversary! I am so lucky to have such great role models when it comes to marriage and commitment. My parents are still so in love with each other and I have had the opportunity to watch them grow together throughout the years. I have learned that marriage is all about compromise and being involved with each other but also staying true to yourself and following your own interests. We went to dinner at O'Charley's and had a wonderful time. It is always nice to get together with the family.
Today is my sister-in-law Christine's birthday. I can't wait for her to get her gift. I ordered it online and had it sent to her house. I hope she likes it. Later tonight I have another work shower with people from my old job. I still get to see them a lot since I work for another entity and deal with the physicians at the office. It also doesn't hurt that my mom is their boss and my best friend and Matron of honor, Shayna, works there, too! Many of the people that will be there tonight have watched me grow from a child to a woman. I used to go there when I was a gymnast and would hurt myself. Then I worked there for 8 years before moving into this positon. So, they have been with me through a lot of major milestones in my life and many have been a great support system.
Now, that we are caught up I am going to try and stay caught up on my blog. Hopefully I will be able to keep it interesting.
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!!