10 Day you challenge - The Finale

Who actually needs to do these every day? Apparently, not this girl. You see this is why I don't have set posts each week. I'm just going to finish them all up now.  The week in Florida messed everything up.

Six places could go a lot of different ways. I decided to choose six places that have a lot of meaning to me.

six places

Our House. Though I complain to Aaron about it all the time and look at houses constantly on Real Tracs, it will always be the place of so many firsts and a place filled with so much love. I know when I leave I'm going to cry like a baby. It was our first house, we got our dogs here, painted together and decorated together, we brought our baby to this home, etc.

The library. I don't go that often anymore because nursing school ruined books for me, but it still holds a dear place in my heart. It's probably because my mom started taking me to story hour when I was a toddler. Also, I love the smell of a good book and the weight of it in my hand. Reading is where it is at.

My great-grandmother's house. Ah, the original Nola. She's long since passed away and her house was sold a long time ago. So many things remind me of it. I still remember the way it smells. I think of it fondly often. We usually only went to visit on holidays because her house was about two hours away from us. I remember playing with spools (she saved them so that we could build things with them), watching the Thanksgiving or Christmas parades on tv, swinging on her porch swing, feeling big because my parents would let us go to the small little market across the street to get candy, sitting on her red stool in the kitchen "helping" her cook, cooked apples, her pantry full of things she canned, and opening gifts.

Hawaii, France, Ireland and New Zealand. As Tina Fey would say, "I want to go to there." Technically, four places, but these are places that I hope to go in this lifetime. If I get to just one of them, I will be a happy girl.

The North Pole. I'm not even kidding, folks. Yes, I know it doesn't exist. I'm telling you, Christmas was almost ruined because I found out Santa wasn't real. I mean I was DEVASTATED. I love the idea of it. I wish it were real. Think of how magical it would be.

The Beach. Give me a beach, any beach and I would be happy. They make the best vacations. I'm going to one tomorrow. Word.  (Obviously, I started this post in Florida).

five foods

You know with me being a huge fan of cooking and food, this could go a million different ways.  I chose, my last meal.  If I knew I could only eat one last meal or was an inmate on death row, this would be what I would request.

Meatloaf, fried okra, carrot souffle, vanilla ice cream, and bread pudding.

four books

What does it say about a person when their favorite books are about crazy people?  Don't answer that.  I decided to put two of my favorite books and two books that I want to read.

Favorites:

The Bell Jar and The Catcher in the Rye

Soon to Read:

Eat, Pray, Love and The Memory Keeper's Daughter.  Yes, I'm a little behind the times.

three films

Easy peasy.  Three of my all time favorites.

What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Shaun of the Dead, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

two songs



This is probably the hardest category.  I love music.  I'll just put two songs I'm loving right now.

Pumped Up Kicks (Foster the People) and Party Rock Anthem (LMFAO).  Yes, I'm serious.  Don't judge me.  It's funny.  I hardly listen to the radio (Thank you, Pandora and ipod!), but both of these are getting major play now.

one picture

I really wish I had gotten a picture of myself when Aaron and I went to our friend, Lea's, wedding last weekend.  I have been dying for an occasion to wear the vintage dress that I picked up at Goodwill.  I loved, loved, that outfit.  I have hardly any recent pictures of myself and very few without another person in them.  Here is a picture of us taken in Florida. Ignore my post baby body, please.











10 Day you Challenge - Day 6

Who actually needs to do these every day?  Apparently, not this girl.  You see this is why I don't have set posts each week. Six places could go a lot of different ways. I decided to choose six places that have a lot of meaning to me.

six places

1. Our House.  Though I complain to Aaron about it all the time and look at houses constantly on Real Tracs, it will always be the place of so many firsts and a place filled with so much love.  I know when I leave I'm going to cry like a baby.  It was our first house, we got our dogs here, painted together and decorated together, we brought our baby to this home, etc.   
2. The library.  I don't go that often anymore because nursing school ruined books for me, but it still holds a dear place in my heart.  It's probably because my mom started taking me to story hour when I was a toddler.  Also, I love the smell of a good book and the weight of it in my hand.  Reading is where it is at. 
3. My great-grandmother's house.  Ah, the original Nola.  She's long since passed away and her house was sold a long time ago.  So many things remind me of it.  I still remember the way it smells.  I think of it fondly often.  We usually only went to visit on holidays because her house was about two hours away from us.  I remember playing with spools (she saved them so that we could build things with them), watching the Thanksgiving or Christmas parades on tv, swinging on her porch swing, feeling big because my parents would let us go to the small little market across the street to get candy, sitting on her red stool in the kitchen "helping" her cook, cooked apples, her pantry full of things she canned, and opening gifts. 
4. Hawaii, France, Ireland & New Zealand.  As Tina Fey would say, "I want to go to there."  Technically, four places, but these are places that I hope to go in this lifetime.  If I get to just one of them, I will be a happy girl.    
5. The North Pole. I'm not even kidding, folks.  Yes, I know it doesn't exist.  I'm telling you, Christmas was almost ruined because I found out Santa wasn't real.  I mean I was DEVASTATED.  I love the idea of it.  I wish it were real.  Think of how magical it would be.
6. The Beach.  Give me a beach, any beach and I would be happy.  They make the best vacations.  I'm going to one tomorrow.  Word. 

10 Day you challenge - Day 7

Perhaps the easiest of them all!

 

seven wants

1. Not to have to go back to work.  This isn't going to happen.  I don't want to be a stay at home mom.  I need some outlet, but the thought of working 12 hour days and missing a whole day of Nola's life makes me very sad.  So much happens so quickly when they are this little.
2. Fall clothes.  Yes, please. 
3. A better or renovated kitchen.  I hate galley kitchens.  I will never have one again.  I need space when people come over.  Also, I need a lot more cabinet space.  I have way too many kitchen gadgets, pans, etc.  My kitchen stifles me.
4. Another date night.  I'm sure we'll get one when we're in Florida. 
5. Fall.  I'm over summer.  Bring on the chill, please. 
6. A better camera.  Maybe a Nikon?   
7. A safe and nice flight to Florida.  We're leaving on Tuesday evening.  I pray nothing happens and Nola is really good.  We went to the Flea Market all day on Friday and she was an angel, so more of that please.  It's only an hour and a half flight, so fingers crossed. 
 

10 Day you challenge - day 8

 

Whoops!  Yesterday was my mom's birthday celebration, which was held at our house.  Here is day eight of the challenge, a day late. 

eight fears

1. Mr. O dying before me.  Seriously, this disturbs me to the core.  Hopefully, we both have long lives in front of us.
2. Clowns.  I never liked them and then I read Stephen King's IT when I was in the fifth grade.  I remember thinking, "I knew I was right about them!" 
3. Roller Coasters.  I would love to ride them, but my body goes straight into panic attack.  Shaking so violent that I can't control it.  In fact, I have no control over myself when I try to ride them.  My hands grip the bar and I can't make them let go until we stop. 
4. Something happening to Nola.  Good grief, no one tells you how much you'll worry about them.  I'm not obsessive, but so many things could happen.  She slept for eight hours on Friday night and I sat straight up and immediately checked if she was breathing.
5. Someone breaking into our house, while we're sleeping. Thank you, Cold Case Files. 
6. Going bald when I'm older.  Seriously, bald is never cute unless you're a dude.
7. Getting Alzheimer's.  I see it all the time at work.  No one should get it. It's horrible.
8. Some of the psych patients at work.  I am notorious for getting psych patients.  Every one at works knows it and there have been a few that have absolutely scared the bejesus out of me.  You can't control or predict crazy. I've seen some crazy things.

This & That

Here's a whole bunch of random things for you.  I started this post last night when I couldn't go to sleep, but I did it on my blog ap, but I didn't post it, so I lost it all.  Thank you for that, iPhone.  You are so awesome sometimes.

Debbie Downer alert!  I found out last night that one of the girls that I graduated with died this past spring.  I didn't really know her, but she seemed nice.  Nothing makes you think of your mortality like hearing about someone your age that died.  She had melanoma, which reminds me that I've had a questionable mole for ever and keep putting off going to have it checked out.  I think it's time to make that appointment now.  On a side note, tanning beds are horrible.  Think of how often high school students go to them.  It's melanoma waiting to happen.  Plus, I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but when starting an iv on a high schooler with really tough skin, I ask them if tan a lot because I can tell from how tough their skin is when I try to stick them.

Speaking of high school, I watched part of an episode of My So Called Life the other day.  I used to love that show. I mean, do-multiple-skits-for-speech-and-drama-watch-every-episode-a-million-times-from-my-own-personal-copy-that-I-recorded-off-of-tv loved it.  I watched it when it was ABC and not MTV.  Yes, I was an original lover of the show.  Well, let's say that you know you have grown up a lot, when you watch a show that you absolutely used to love, only to realize it's not that good at all.  It was boring slow, dark, and just kind of depressing.  If it hadn't been for Jared Leto, I might have changed the channel after a few minutes.  He bought my watching the show about 15 more minutes.  Who doesn't love a little Jordan Catalano eye candy?  For those who want their fix, it's on the Sundance channel on Comcast.  That's for you, B whoever wants to watch it.

I now have to work every other weekend again.  I'm so bummed about it.  I guess you can't ask to have two days a week off because your husband is in school without having some consequence.  I love my job, but the thought of every other weekend and 10a-10p shifts makes me sick.  I'm sending some positive energy out to have a fix for this situation. Time will tell if it happens or not.

Yesterday morning, my ipod player started playing on it's own in Nola's room.  Talk about being freaked out.  Luckily, Aaron was still here, so he walked around the house with a baseball bat looking for an intruder.  It was probably pretty funny from the outside, not from the inside. 

Every time something out of the ordinary happens, I think maybe my dad is behind it.  If you knew him, he was a major prankster.  I find myself saying in my head, "Very funny, dad."  Aaron has even said, "That's enough, Billy," before on an occasion where weird things happened all day.

Speaking of ghosts, they say kids can see them.  Well, I kind of believe that they see something because Nola will be looking up at nothing at all and start smiling and kicking her legs like something is there.  It kind of freaks me out.  Very funny, dad.

We're leaving for Florida next week.  I still need to call customer service to find out about baby things, like strollers, bringing her car seat, etc.  I am clueless.  I know we have to take tons of stuff for such a little person. I've made a list and it's hella long.  What a little diva! 

Also, we're boarding the dogs.  It's going to be like $300.  Anyone want two dogs?  One is playful and disobedient marches to the beat of her own drummer.  The other one is old and crotchety wise and full of personality.  I'll be honest on Molly.  She's the weirdest and most frustrating dog that I have ever owned and I had many a dog growing up.  Going once, going twice....

That's it and that's all for now.

 

10 day you challenge - Day 9

nine loves

1. Mr. O & Nola.  Duh.  Package deal with those two.
2. All things cooking.  Shows, recipes, cookbooks, etc.
3. Fashion.
4. Flea Markets.
5. Beach vacations.
6. Coffee.
7. More than 4 hour stretches of sleep.
8. Horror films.  I'm becoming more of a wimp the older I get though.
9. Finding a good deal.

Sneak preview

We did a little more in Nola's nursery.  Here's a little preview.  Hopefully, we'll have it done before I go back to work.  That's our goal. 

*  We hung the lanterns and poofs this weekend.  Ignore the bin where I'm packing away things already  *

* Craptastic photo alert!  If you can see anything, this is the curtain Aaron's mom made.  It's really pretty in person  *

*  dresser and changing area  *

*  Up close of the bedding that Mr. O's mom made for Nola  *

*  Crazy hair enjoying her new mobile.  Plus, up close of the inside fabric of the bedding  *

*  Bonus photo:  Our little hoarder this morning  *