101 checks and such

so this past week has been pretty busy, I think.  stuff to check off:

• #7.  run a 5k.  check!  did this on Saturday for the March of Dimes.  It was really fun and I enjoyed the trip around downtown Denver.  It was cold, but once we got moving it was enjoyable.  Lots of pics on twitter, here.
• #17.  try a new restaurant once a month.  this month's was taco del mar in Fort Collins.  It is a lot like Chipotle, but actually, I thought the meat was much better.  and I love Chipotle.  I really loved it and their salsa was good too.  Last month's was smashburger, I just never updated about it.  Smashburger is fantastic, and I don't even like burgers.
• #24.  pay off credit cards.  I only have 2 to pay off, and they are small balances really, but victory for one of them, thanks to my tax refund :)
• #34.  whiten teeth.  bought a new product last week, Arm&Hammer whitening enhancer or something like that.  It is next to their toothpaste, but you use it with your regular toothpaste, as in at the same time.  It makes your teeth feel dentist fresh which is a good selling point in and of itself, but I actually could notice a whitening difference within a couple days.  I like it a lot, which is nice because I tried those strips once, and they grossed me out.
• #35.  recycle regularly for at least six months.  only one month left of this!  it's been nice and I of course plan to continue, but one more check! :)
• #59.  get reusable grocery bags.  done!
• #60.  create a budget and stick to it for at least 3 months.  2 months down.  yay!

lots of progress, it seems.  good news.

congrats and complaints

I like lists. so, in honor of this, lists:

congrats:

• to kate, who got married on saturday. best wishes and enjoy your honeymoon!
• also to mandy, who got married on saturday as well...saw pictures on FB, she looked great!
  
• and erin! who got married today. big wedding weekend.
• to my mom, for making some amazing chocolate malt cupcakes with cherry buttercream from scratch for a bake sale for March of Dimes. OMG. (side note: our team has raised about $3000 bucks so far!)
  
• to ME! for making ebay my bitch just now and outbidding 6 other people in the last 35 seconds. knotties, part of my MOH gift dilemma has been solved :)

complaints:

• I think I have the flu. lots of body aches, fever, and my lungs are crying. I cannot even miss class tomorrow because I have 2 presentations tomorrow and also we missed 2 days last week for the blizzard.
• I did not get my paycheck direct deposited last week for some unknown reason. wtf, CSU!?
• I have now received 5 notifications in the last 2 weeks that I need to pay my student loans, after talking to the company 3 times and supposedly "resolving" the issue. This really annoys me because I used to work student loans for a living, and I know how it works. All they need to do is type my name into the student clearinghouse and in .000002 seconds see that I am still enrolled in school and they need to STFU and defer them. but no.
  

engagiversary?

I dunno what else to call it...

Anywho, we have been engaged for a year today :)  at this time last year, we were having a celebratory cookie monster at Cheddar's in Waco.  yay.

lots of 101 checks...

1.  lose 15 pounds, 5 pounds at a time.

this check is well on it's way.  I started calorie counting on Thursday and have lost 3 pounds thus far.  I believe I will be at 5 pounds by the end of the week.  I'm not sure how much I really want to lose total, but I think going down a size would be nice, so we'll aim for a 6 rather than an 8.  I really don't care to be honest, as long as I finally feel good about myself.  I also haven't even had time to exercise yet so that could help, too.

17.  try a new restaurant every other month.

on Friday, we had a date night (#44!) at Pinocchio's, a new Italian place nearby.  It was very good (I hoarded my calories all day and saved 1000 out of my allowed 1350 for dinner...I didn't need them all though!), I tried a new wine (#41!) - Hob Nob chard.  I thought it was good.

25.  do 10 random acts of kindness.

helped an old lady with her groceries at whole foods last week.  

35.  recycle regularly for at least 6 months.

this has been going steady for 3 months, looking good!

84.  make some new girl friends.

not wanting to replace people here, just trying.  I have about 95% guy friends, ladies are good too.  I have made a couple at school so I think this is going well!  I've also gotten closer to one of my cousins who hasn't been around much growing up.

I think that is some solid progress!  In other news, Kate at elefantitas alegres is doing a giveaway for an adorable bikini bag, and I want in on that action!  so check it out if you're interested.

success...and failure

on more than one front:

• House addiction is now full blown.
• $200 adorable wool pea coat for $30.
• found adorable flower pins for BM dresses for 2 bucks each on clearance.
• LOST 2.5 POUNDS SINCE THURSDAY.

failures:

• still have not started multiple homework BS.
• daylight savings time - WTF.
• figs have been added to my list of things that weird me the hell out.
• horrible migraine 90% of yesterday.

happy weekend, everyone.

MIA and random thoughts

I've been MIA lately.  Sorry about that.  This week I had a huge paper to finish for tomorrow, and a test - first of the semester actually...grad school is weird.  Got a couple more big ass projects to do for next week over the weekend and then spring break.  This semester is really flying by.  

Anywho, random thoughts today:

• tomorrow we shall have a date night.  Italian food and a movie is on the agenda.  Suggestions for a good movie?
• writing a paper about induced seismicity seemed like a good idea at the time, but it quickly was not.  I don't want to read or write another word about this malarkey.
• I'm developing an obsession with House.  it's been a long time coming.
• I feared running out of gas today on my way home from teaching labs.  lesson learned: my "distance to empty" thing stops calculating when you are under 30 miles.  will NOT do that and drive home anxiously with the radio turned off and no AC again.
• I started doing a semi-combo of WW and just general calorie counting today.  I hope for great success - otherwise I might resort to cutting off a limb.  Anyway, it went well today and I found this cool iphone app that lets you put in foods and subtract exercise calories.  it makes it kinda fun.  I also enjoy meal planning.  I am a nerd.
• I would do anything for love  john krasinski.  watching the office reminds me of this.

yes, please.  sorry chad.

life, and tagged.

so it's been a week, time to update my loyal readers, who I'm sure are on the edge of their seat.

valentine's day was pretty uneventful because we are poor until this friday when we get paid. so we're pretending it didn't happen yet. I went and tried on my (new) dream dress, put up with a bunch of obnoxious girls in the bridal salon, and then we went to lunch without chad, since he wasn't included in the wedding dress shopping, obvi. for those of you in the know, it is looking like #2 is a solid winner. my dad did make a fabulous steak and shrimp dinner though, ohhhh baby.

sunday, we were talking and decided we should probably move our wedding back to next spring. with the economy sucking our life forces away, and my internship this summer (which I absolutely cannot skip, too much of an opportunity/resume booster) not ending until like 3 weeks before the wedding, we just don't see it happening. this way we have a few extra months to take care of payments (even though we have really whittled the budget so it's not that big a deal anyway), and gives my parents some extra time to settle their stuff so they can help us with my dress and whatever else they are going to. also, we really don't feel like everyone important to us has the resources to buy plane tickets soon, let alone maybe 2 for bachelor/bachelorette parties as well. so that is sort of a bummer, but sort of whatever, because we basically are married without it being official anyway, so what's the rush I guess.

this week has been awful so far, and it's only getting worse. one professor assigned 4 major projects this week - one due monday, one tuesday, one thursday, and one friday. everyone I have talked to is a combination of completely stressed and extremely pissed. I have completed 2 of them and am too angry to start on the other 2. on top of that, I have another major project for my ore geochem class due friday. since this is the only class I actually care about, I feel like it should be taking precidence, but it really hasn't so far. guess I know what I'm doing during office hours tomorrow. dang.

today, I had an awkward break because of said stupid professor adjusting class times this week, so I went on an adventure around fort collins since I do not really know much about it. I went to a place called the buttercream cupcakery - omg. they have jumbo sized (well, rather large regular sized, I guess), and little mini cupcakes. I got a mini chai tea and a mini PB fudge. DELISH. and the display case was adorable. also, on sundays, they make french toast cupcakes. NOT EVEN RIGHT.



yum.

then I went to a consignment shop to sell some of the clothes I have been dragging around in the back of my car. they bought one thing, and the guy told me that they "totally wanted the rest" but that even though they were all cute and stylish and sellable clothes, because they were more than one year old, they were not allowed to sell them. um, wtf? I worked in a consignment shop once, and that makes no sense. if it is cute and sellable, we bought it. who cares how old it is? so that was dumb and a waste of time, I guess I will try another shop elsewhere.

after that, I took a trip to a local jewelry shop and looked for a wedding band. I wanted to get the one that matches my e-ring, but I am a little bored by it and want something more fun and unique. I found a couple of things I really liked (one being a $3800 tacori band - sigh.), so that gives me new hope. the one I ended up liking the most I never would have picked up on my own, and the girl helping me suggested it. she was right. I tried to find a similar pic online, but no luck.

so the lovely christy tagged me in this random purse survey thing. you're supposed to post a picture of your purse and how much it cost and some interesting story about how you got it. so here's my bag. I love it and all of it's $30 glory. I bought it because I kept walking by it and swooning over it and finally decided I had to have it, even though I have 34234 other purses. shhh. it's kinda boring I guess...haha.


now that this has turned into a novel, I bid you adieu.