Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Bloom

I am a day late and only have time to post about one book! So sorry friends, but this week has been crazy! But I really wanted to link up so i am hoping Tiffany and Lauren are fine with bending the rules for me posting only one book!
 
Kelle Hampton who is is the star behind the blog Enjoying the Small Things is simply amazing. I read this blog everyday and am always so moved by her words. If you do not follower her blog please do. Her story, values, photography and family keep me coming back for more.
 
She wrote a book about her daughter Nella Cordelia - who was born with down syndrome. This book is raw, emotional and so inspirational.
 

Thursday, September 20, 2012

I believe..

I believe that love is the answer (sorry I had to).



I believe in chocolate and that it is the cure to get rid of cramps.

I believe in husband time.


I believe in picnics.

I believe in puppy love. I have had a lot of it this year.


I believe in God and try to follow His word everyday.

I believe in my family. They are my rock.

I believe in The Royal Family. They are big time.

 
I believe in Pinot Grigio. Tequila. Long Island's. Vodka. Margaritas.
 
I believe in laughing  - the kind that make your stomach hurt.
 
I believe in girl time.
 
 
I believe in taking chances.
 
I believe in taking the wrong turn. You never know what you will find.
 
 
I believe in long walks on the beach.
 
I believe in the Kardashians, Real Housewives, Britney Spears...
 
 
I believe in Halloween.
 
I believe in my relationship with my Mom.  She is my best friend.
 
I believe in speical moments and sweet memories that are captured.
 
 
 
I believe in staying young.
 
I believe in good health.
 
I believe in respect.
 

 
 
I believe in Justin Timberlake.


 

 We touched hands moments after this picture was taken.
 
I believe that country music is always the solution.
 
And most of all I believe in Thursday's because tomorrow IS Friday!

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Dresses

Back in 2006 I applied for a Express credit card. It was my first credit card to a department store and I every time I bought something I would pay it off right away. I loved Express. Express loved me too - so much that my limit was increased monthly because I was buying SO much and paying it off so fast. Fast forward some time later and Express and I went through some relationship issues. I had been spending more then I should have and stopped making my large payments.. in turn having some large bills to pay. I stopped shopping there altogether, threw away all of the amazing coupons and rewards that I got in the mail and with time got that card paid off 100%.  

Today I went on their website. 

They had cute tank tops...

Cozy sweaters...

And really awesome dresses... that were on sale. 

I bought four. I did NOT use my Express card, paid with debit. Two of them I can wear this winter at holiday parties and fall/winter bachelorette parties. The other two were so on sale from summer that I can wear them next spring/summer for  bachelorette/rehearsals/showers and weddings I am going to.

Justifiable excuse right??? 


All photographs are via

5 foods

Weeks sure do fly by - it is already Tuesday and I am linking up with Tiffany and Lauren again! Talking about all of this food this morning sure made me hungry :)

1.  Red Robin.. Yummm!! If I could choose a fancy gourmet restaurant or this delicious place - chances are I would choose my favorite dirty bird (dirty bird = our Red Robin nickname) any day of the week! My favorite is the Red Robin Gourmet Cheeseburger with cheddar cheese, a little pink and no onion, no relish WITH  side of ranch and side of honey mustard. I have been getting this burger for yearssss (probably since I was 12). However, I have mixed it up lately and have gotten the Whiskey River BBQ Wrap which is absolutely delish as well!

 
2. Ice cream. Anything ice cream. My favorite was this amazing mint ice cream cake my Mom made several years ago. It was honestly the most tastey thing ever.
 
Mom's yummy ice cream cake!
 
3. Spaghetti. I love pasta. My grandma's spaghetti sauce recipe is the best I have ever had. I do not know the recipe nor could I tell you all the incredients but I do know it is super unhealthybecause she does not drain any of the grease from the ground beef.  If I was to ever go out for pasta I would definately choose The Old Spaghetti Factory. Their Mizithra Cheese and Browned Butter is my favorite.
 
4. I love a good salad. I am pretty simple when it comes to my salad dressing. Since I was a little kid I always liked to have olive oil, lemon and garlic salt. My family has always had this as their salad dressing and to this day I still prefer to have lemon.
 
5. Mom's home cooking. There is nothing better then a nice, home cooked meal made by Mom! If I had to choose one thing that I love the most it is definately a turkey with all of the fixins! Yay that Fall is almost here!  



Sunday, September 16, 2012

Sunday Social

Happy Sunday! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. Today I am linking up with Ashley and Neely for their weekly Sunday Social!
Sunday Social
1. 5 items you can't live without on a daily basis (water, food, shelter, and clothes dont count) Makeup, purfume, favorite ugg slippers, car/phone/tv/computer (I am counting this as one) and morning talk shows - 100.7 The Wolf to be exact!
2. All time favorite book? Why? Does Babysitters Club count?? Because I owne the WHOLE series as a child and still have them all.. my future daughter better love them. As an adult I love anything Nora Roberts.
3. Something you'd like to accomplish by the end of 2012? Finish my paralegal course and be a certified paralegal. Loose 40 pounds.
4. If you could go back and relive any year of your life which year would it be? 2006 - the year I graduated highschool. One of the best and happiest years of my life. 
5. What do you wish people knew about you without you having to tell them?  That I constantly struggle with pleasing people and making them happy before making myself happy. I put others before myself which has at times proven to be a bad thing because I never spend the time to focus on my own self worth.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

It's Okay...

It's Okay... That my evenings consist of watching waaaaay to much Netflix. My girl show I watch is Pretty Little Liars (obsessed) and my show that I watch with the husband is How I Met Your Mother!
 
It's Okay... That I spent close to $40.00 on nail polish at Target yesterday. Tiffany posted about the band of polish Essie - and now I am obsessed. I am not one to sit down and do my nails myself (no patience) but my goodness these colors are fabulous!
 
It's Okay... That the only reason I am watching the X-Factor is because Britney Spears is on it.
 
It's Okay... That my stomach hurts from laughing with my girls last night. Best girls night I have had in a while.
 
It's Okay... That my birthday is still not for a couple of weeks but all I can manage to do is talk about planning something fun.
 
It's Okay... That I have my Halloween costume completely purchased and planned out.
 
Its Ok Thursdays

Inspire Me: Healthy

I was hoping that when I linked up today with Raven and Kristen I would have some more exciting week #1 results, but I don't.. so I do not think I fit the inspirational mold of this link up this week.. but you ladies are a good source of motivation and I thank all of you that have started following my blog. I may be new to the blog world but am slowly getting the hang of it and appreciate all of your love!

Dont Quote The Raven

With that said...

This week was not a good one in the "healthy Kathleen" department. I started off with two great days - good attitude, plan set and eye on the prize - but ladies, this girl over here was weak.
 
Weak.
 
Totally weak.
 
Wednesday was fabulous (minus the fact that I was a sugarless grump and was in a baaad mood).
Thursday I felt invincible.
Friday morning I felt skinnier already.
 
But then..............................
 
I went to Pullman.
 
You see my little  taller, 22 year old, senior in college, not so little brother goes to college at Washington State University (go Cougs!) and I had somehow convinced myself that I could do well Friday, spare to have a bad mess up day on Saturday and then Sunday be good again. Apparently, I did not convince myself good enough because I failed. Failed big time. Friday night's drinks turned in to Friday night greasy food (tastes so much better drunk right?) which turned in to SaturDAY and night drinks which in turn gave me a fabulous Sunday hangover which resulted in more greasy food to cure the hangover. Makes total sense right?
 
So we got home Sunday. I felt miserable.
 
I continued to do bad all week. I did not work out because I was tired and honestly my body was still healing from my weekend in Pullman. Then just as I said I was going to have a "good" day I got invited to a wine and appetizer night at a friends. We drank toooooo much vino.

Like I said. I am weak.

A new day, a new attitude - that is what today will bring. I can do this. I will do this. I have a long way to go, but will get there. 

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Wedding Blues

I totally have the post wedding season blues. Get this ladies - I had no weddings to go to this summer. ZERO! Last summer I had 8. This summer NONE. You do not understand how much this breaks me heart. Everything about a wedding makes me happy - the romance, the commitment, the love, the dancing, the booze - everything is just so happy. Plus, having an excuse to get dressed up is always fun!
 
My 2013 summer wedding schedule is already starting to fill up - I have 4 so far! You better believe I have already started buying dresses for showers, bachelorette parties, rehearsal dinners and the actual weddings. End of summer clearance.. yes please!!
 
Here are a few of the fun weddings I attended last summer and you better believe I am including my own!
 




Tuesday, September 11, 2012

6 Places

I was so bad last week and missed out on the link up! I am back this week linking up with my girls Tiffany and Lauren for the challenge and this week was a fun one for me! While trying to figure out what "theme" of places I wanted to go with I started reminiscing on all of the happy vacations I have taken which was so much fun for me. With that said, here are some fun places I have been to!

10 Day YOU Challenge
1. I love Hawaii. The beaches, the scenery, the fruit - I love it all. I have been to Hawaii twice; once during my senior year in highschool and the second time was in 2007 when I visted my best friend from college who just happend to live in Hawaii :) rough place to live right? I cannot wait to go back someday with my husband - we have never been together.


2. Viva Las Vegas. My first Vegas vacation was when I was in 5th grade - what what - my parents took their little ones there for a long weekend vacation. I have to say as a child it was pretty amazing. Pools everywhere, junk food, cool hotels, arcades, magic shows.. it was a blast! My trip to Vegas as an adult was a lot more memorable a lot lesss memorable filled with dancing, drinking, shows, drinking, walking the strip, drinking, gambling, drinking!


3. Cannon Beach. I have been to this beautiful part of the Oregon Coast more times then I can even count. Every summer as a kid my parents took us there. When I met John we went to Cannon Beach and I told him this was a place that I held close to my heart. When we went back the following summer he proposed.


4. Tijuana, Mexico. I have traveled to Tijuana 6 times to build houses in the communities down there. What a life changing experience it is - I owe a lot of who I am today to my experiences in Tijuana.


5. Cruising. I love going on cruises. The picture below is on an excursion in Cabo with my family.


6. Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. My honeymoon destination. There are no words to desribe how much I love this place. I can't wait to go back.






Thursday, September 6, 2012

Inspire Me: Healthy

I did it! I went to WW on Sunday and got this girl all signed up and ready to go - operation get skinny begins now (yesterday).. Starting over the holiday weekend was not going to happen (lot's of margaritas to drink) and I needed some time to get my food prepped for my success! So here I am, September 6th - almost one month exactly until my 25th birthday and my first goal of 20 pounds is set and ready to be accomplished!
 
My list to making it work:
 
Journal  - I am not the "dear diary" type, but I have found that writing my foods helps me out so much! At WW they give you a little piece of paper to track your food/points or you can spend a few extra bucks and buy their Ultimate Food Tracker book - but for me the standard WW journal was not a motivating factor so I made my own. I bought a cute journal, took key elements out from the WW journal and wrote them down in mine. I also wrote out the days until my birthday to track my daily weight, food eaten and points used.
 
Snacks - Convenience is key. At work I tend to snack, damn candy bowl. I do not want to deprive myself from the things I enjoy but also do not want to trigger bad eating habits.  Two delish snacks I have been loving are Cliff Bar's and Planter's NUT-rition Energy Mix. While high in points - these satisfy my hunger, satisfy my cravings and are filling enough for me to supplement as meals if I either miss breakfast or lunch due to my busy work schedule.

 
Clothes - I love Fall. I love my Fall wardrobe. Cute boots do not look cute on chubby calves.  That is motivation itself right??? Plus, as the weather cools down the layers of clothes start piling on which adds pounds on to the bod without even asking for it.
 
Those are some of my motivating facotors to making it work this time around.  I have yo-yo dieted my whole life. I am realy good at loosing weight when I put my mind to it BUT I am also very good at gaining weight.  This time around I need to loose it and keep it off. I want to start a family in the next year or two so preparing my body for pregnancy is a huge want of mine plus I am a newlywed and I want to keep it hot for my husband.
 
All In My Twenties

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

How Pinteresting

My Pinterest find today made me laugh a majority of the day. Happy Wednesday!
 
"Today I made some Christina Aguilera magnets for our dishwasher so we would know if our dishes were clean or dirrty"