Debbie Downer - No Excitement in Life

It is time for new goals in my life. Every day seems daunting and such a downer. The routine has become so routine and the spice of life is slowly being lost by the moment. Work is a bummer and with little to no fun spending money the spice of life in my social life is slim to none. So it is time to set some new goals. When we got engaged my goal and focus was on the wedding. I spent hours of endlessly researching details for the wedding. With the wedding and honeymoon over the excited balloon has been popped. I need new goals with new things to look forward to.

So some new goals that I want to accomplish. I want to start scrapbooking again. It is very therapeutic for me and I have all the supplies to do it with the exception of the actual photos that I would like to memorialize. My scrapbook is only done through June 2005 after high school graduation. Now that I am over 5 years behind in my scrapping I am going to go through the events that are in line to scrap and choose only the important big events to add. That way I can catch up faster. I want to be up to date through the year 2005 by the end of August. If I set dates for myself than maybe I will actually get around to doing it.

Troy and I need to decide how we are going to celebrate our first anniversary as a married couple! I am pretty excited about it actually. First I was thinking about recreating our honeymoon. The hotel that we stayed at gives 1 free night if you go back to celebrate your anniversary. Then I thought that that is too expensive and if we travel big again that I want to go on a new adventure somewhere else where we haven’t been.

Then my next idea was to go on a cruise! I have heard mixed reviews on the whole idea since you are “trapped” on a boat and you don’t get to do as much exploring as if you stayed at a resort and the time that you are actually docked is pretty short. Then others say that it is great and it is like a hotel with an awesome view of the water, LOL. So that is still an option.

Then the frugal house-envious me wants to do something even smaller and use all the money to be spent on a vacation toward a down payment for our first house. Now I realize that I can not be so stingy with our money that we do not allow ourselves to go out and have a good time and enjoy life. At the same time I really want to own our own place, whether it is a condo or a house or whatever we can find but I really want to move into a place, plant some roots, start a family, have as many pets as I want and be able to decorate, renovate or destroy as I please without worrying about what anyone else wants.

So I am left between all kinds of options so it is also a goal and an exciting thing to look forward to is the celebration of our 1 year anniversary in 3 months and 5 days!!


Jared and Mallory are getting married in September and I am very excited for them. They are going to be surrounded by family, friends, and love. I can’t wait to celebrate with them and actually have a drink at this wedding. Since I didn’t even drink at my own it will be nice to be out the outside this time and be able to take pictures and enjoy all the festivities without being pulled in a million different directions.

We also are looking forward to the Brad Paisley concert in September. It is on my bucket list to see him in concert and if we are really lucky then he might just sing our wedding song. Now that would just be absolutely awesome and would be a night I would never forget. I still need to find a hotel for that night and scoop out the area since it is all the way down in the San Diego area. It will be a nice weekend away.

After that we have Cassandra and Andrew’s wedding. I’m excited about this one too! I got my dress and shoes and now all I need are some bomb accessories and I will be ready to rock it. Their wedding is going to be very different from Jared and Mallory’s with a totally different feel but I think it is going to be just as pretty and full of love.

I guess I have more to look forward to than I realized now that I actually wrote some of the things down. The daily grind is just really grinding on me these days and the positive, upbeat, and eager Melissa has disappeared. Work used to be fun and interesting and I actually enjoyed myself. These days it is a total drag and I miss the more family oriented, less corporate commercial, office environment that we used to work in. So with that daily grind and then being broke all the time I am starting to just get worn out.

On a positive note, Troy and I are really hitting the grind on paying off debt. We are trying to put as much extra money towards credit card debt as possible to get them paid down and eventually off. That way we can really start putting money into savings. When the stupid Nissan is paid off (last payment on 9/18 whoot whoot!!) then that extra money will go to paying off even more debt faster and eventually will be put into savings. We are used to living “without it” so it won’t be as hard not to spend it on frivolous things.

Adulthood – who would have thought it would be like this? I rushed to grow up and look where I am at? After spending some time with Amy we were talking about how old we are and how her kid is about to go into kindergarten. Where did the time go?

Bridal Showers

A few Saturdays ago I went to Mallory's bridal shower. It is surreal to think that soon both of us will soon be married to our high school sweethearts. It is crazy to think that once apon a long time ago all 4 of us marched on the same field together in highschool. Who would have known that the girl that I nicked name Booger would be marrying one of my oldest and dearest friends in nearly 4 weeks? I am so happy for them and I hope that they have a long and happy journey in life together.

They are getting married at Mallory's grandparents home in their backyard. The house and the setting is beautiful but a little bit on the small side. I overheard one of the bridesmaids who said that there is going to be assigned seating for the ceremony and 20-30 guests will need to stand. At first I was a little shocked to hear the idea but thinking about it more it makes total sense. I am just hoping that I am one of the honored guests to get a seat. I am the best man's wife and one of the original 3.

After leaving the bridal shower it is starting to make me more excited and a little anxious for the shower that I putting on in 4 weeks. I thought I had the whole plan all figured out but I've come across a couple of kinks that I still need to work out. One big kink was the location. I was not really excited about a lingerie shower in a park or a resturant. I would rather have it in someone's backyard like mine was. I was a little worried about the games too but after Mallory's shower with only one participating game, one necklace "don't say the word" game and one raffle it seemed perfect. It wasn't very dragged out and the majority of the people knew each other (except me) so they didn't need a bunch of break the ice games.

My shower plans are coming right along. I am getting very excited for Cassandra's wedding. I have my dress and shoes and now just need some bomb accessories. I am looking for some great earrings and a great bangle of some sort.

Confidentiality - Is this now a foreign idea?

With the advancement of the Internet, with Facebook, MySpace, and blogging, what can you really keep confidential these days? Even if you don't participate in these website you most likely are already on them. With Facebook and Myspace your friends and family might have posted an unattractive or embarrassing photo of you on their page without your knowledge or permission. Young teens post their address and phone numbers on their webpages to tell all their friends of their new number or to "call me" but not only are they publicizing this to their friends but also to the entire world. How much of your life is really confidential? You can Google search a name and find out where they live, where they work, where they were born. You can go onto Superior Court websites now and search peoples names and know how many tickets they have had, what they were for, or if they have been convicted of other criminal charges. How can we escape and start life over with a "clean slate" or keep our lives to ourselves if they are blasted all over the internet without our permission or knowledge?

Selling The Left Overs

Today is bitter sweet. I sold my plate chargers from my wedding tonight. I am happy to see them leave my garage and go on to another bride on a tight budget but sad to think that another piece of my wedding is gone. I spent nearly 2 years planning and now that it is over and I am slowly disassembling the pieces it is kind of sad.

First I sold my aisle runner vases. Then I sold what was left of my aisle runner itself. And tonight I sold my plate chargers. It is nice to get some money back from the purchases and to be help other brides who were deal hunters just like me. Now the next big item that I need to get rid of is my dang wedding dress that I didn't wear after all, dress #1. I am keep posting it on craigslist and get a couple of hits and then nothing. I am going to keep trying though. I mean, what am I going to do with it? I have no use for it and no reason to keep it considering I didn't even wear it. I am about to just give it away. Free dress. Please come take it, I need the closet space. Ok, well I am not that desperate just yet but I am sure getting to that point. I have been storing that thing for 3 years now! Know anyone that wants a dress??

Ping Pong

So my husband tends to have a bit of an addictive personality. After he got the Wii for Christmas it was all about the Wii everyday. I watched countless matches of Wii frisbee golf between Joe and Troy. Then they decided that it was time to be more active and pursued actual frisbee golf... most boring game ever! I attemped to play one time with Joe, Troy, Cassandra and Heather. I think I walked and talked more than I actually threw the dang frisbee. Troy and Joe were constantly at the course.

Now they are obsessed with ping pong. I should be happy that he is staying active and is pursuing a hobby that burns major calories, right? Well after over a month with ping pong this and ping pong that I am ping ponged out! It is nice that Troy gets to work out, hang out, and do some male bonding with my dad and all but it would be nice if he wanted to actually spend some time at home a couple of nights this weeks so we could bond.

If Troy had it his way this is what I would look like and be doing for the rest of our lives....

I am trying to be supportive of this new healthy hobby. I must say that it has been nice to be able to stay home and have some alone time while the boys are at my house playing. I get to clean, watch TV, or sleep in peace for a solid amount of hours. It definately has been nice. My new wish is that he is as obsessed with me and our relationship as he is with the Wii, frisbee golf and now ping pong.

Charlie

I love my dog. He is like my first child. I look forward to seeing him when I get home and I love cuddling up with him. He is so mellow and fun to just hang out with. Joe mentioned last night that when he first moved in that Charlie wanted nothing to do with him. He didn't get excited when Joe came home and wouldn't go to him when called. Now though Charlie gets excited when Joe comes to the door and in the morning when he knows that I am leaving he will even scratch at Joe's door to be let in to cuddle with him. It is like Joe has joined Charlie's pack.

He is like a little person. He sleeps in the bed with us and he lays his head on the pillows and stretches out like an old man. I don't have any pictures of it but I am going to try to capture the cuteness the next time I have a camera handy. He is getting old and we are not sure exactly how old he is so I am starting to really cherish the time that we spend together. When we first rescued him from the pound his face was all black in his muzzle. Now that he is older he is starting to turn all grey. Mom just loves him too. Every time Charlie comes over to visit he gets all kinds of treats: cheese, beef jerky, sandwhich meat, whatever she can find for him!

Mom and Dad had gone with Gpa to some steakhouse and they brought home leftovers. While Troy and I were playing ping pong Charlie "found" these bones. He chomped on these things for probably a good hour. He even brought it to the grass so he could sun while enjoying his treat.

TTC - 38 Days