Things to do Posts

10Jun
0

3 Months

OMG I’m getting married in 3 months. SO. MUCH. TO. DO!

I don’t know if I’ve already mentioned this, but we also found out we need to move. And by that I mean we learned of a 12% increase in our rent. Screw that!

The apartment hunt was something I wanted to get over and done with quickly, but that just added stress. In the end I think we picked the right place. I feel comfortable there, it’s not too much of a down grade from the amazing place we have now, and we are saving an incredible amount of money. Oh and we didn’t have to move too terribly far (maybe 5 miles?). Not bad.

And now to focus on the wedding. And packing/picking a moving company. But mostly the wedding. This weekend I hope to have purchased our wedding rings, politely bitch out the caterers, and get some documents done. Within the next two weeks I need to deal with linen rentals, finalize groomsmen attire, start working with the offiiant to create the ceremony (seriously HOW does one fill 15 minutes???), and finalize picture selections for various things that require pictures.

Oh and I’m changing up my work a bit, just to add some complexity to an already overly complex situation. My head very well may explode.

Weeeeeee!

 

Posted by Caro in Life, Things to do, Weddings, Work
24Mar
0

Another Wedding Down

I think I’ve already mentioned this, but 2011 is a busy year for us in terms of events. Here’s what we have going on:

*8 (yes eight!) weddings besides our own. All but one will be before ours
*2 college graduations
*1 Bat Mitzvah (my first one – I’m excited!)

We recently attended wedding #2 of the 8, and it was so much fun! The groom is actually one of J’s close friends, and he’ll be in our wedding later this year. They got engaged just a few months before we did, and it’s been awesome have a couple we’re so close to that we were able to share this experience with. We bounced a lot of ideas back and forth, and there’s definitely things that I plan to steal from their wedding and incorporate into mine. There’s also lessons I learned.

First and foremost, this wedding allowed us to go out of town, which is always fun. They had a nice outdoor ceremony, but it was surprisingly religious. They even had communion, which worked for them but isn’t gonna fly at mine. One thing I will make sure to note at my own wedding: If the officiant pronounces us “man and wife” I’m going to lose it. We are man and woman or husband and wife. Apples to apples lol. Also gotta remember to tell people to bring sweaters. It was chilly outside!

The reception was AWESOME. Open bars are my favorite, and the groom made sure there was enough alcohol for 7 drinks per person. Take into account a few pregnant ladies and a few non-drinkers, I’m sure we had room for 8+ each. It was crazy. Definitely learned something though: cocktail hour should be limited to less than 2.5 hours. People got wasted before dinner!

Some other things I will likely steal: buffet style dinner (though I had planned on this already) and taking dance lessons. They did a really nice waltz for their first dance. I also liked that they had a receiving line. I’m contemplating doing that at mine, but I have so many guests. While it does allow you to say hi to everyone, it also takes a considerable amount of time. The groom later said it totally screwed up their timeline. So now I’m back on the fence. Anyone have any input on that??

All in all, it was an amazing time. I love weddings, especially when it’s someone you know really well. Now onward for weddings 3-7 before mine. More fun, more idea stealing ;)

 

Posted by Caro in Things to do, Travel, Weddings
12Aug
1

C25K Hiatus

Maybe you noticed that I haven’t been updating my C25K progress lately. And then today I took that page down. Why? Because I can’t run anymore.

Anymore = indefinitely.

I went to the foot doctor yesterday. Apparently my feet are “not anatomically designed for running”. What does that even mean? I have feet. They work (sort of). One in front of the other!

But apparently running is a problem. Something about everything in there being defective in some way, causing pressure in all the wrong places but especially on my nerve. So to avoid further nerve damage, I can’t run for the foreseeable future.

I like running though. And I certainly don’t like being told that I can’t do something. This might be a tough one for me. But I guess now is as good of a time as any to learn how to swim better. Or take my bike out. Pretty much anything that will give me exercise without another cortisone injection.

Posted by Caro in Fears, Health, Life, Rants and raves, Sports, Things to do
10Aug
0

New Phone

I’m officially eligible for an upgrade on my phone. I presently have the Blackberry Storm (1), and it sucks. Not that it was always a shitty phone, just that it’s not designed for the long haul. It’s basically crapped out on me.

I want a new phone. Not the iPhone

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL7yD-0pqZg[/youtube]

I’m getting some sort of Android. It’s down to A) The Droid X or B) The Droid 2

Here’s the thing: I’m at a complete loss and hate making decisions about phones that I get stuck with for 2 years!

I leave for Italy in 2 weeks. The Droid X is sold out until I go. The Droid 2 should be released by the time I come back. So I can have either phone when I get back. No advantage to either.

The Droid X comes with OS 2.1, but you’ll be able to upgrade to 2.2 once that comes out. The Droid 2 will come out with 2.2. In my opinion, there’s still no advantage to either.

They have the same size memory. Still equal.

Here’s where I can’t find info. Droid X = 8 megapixel camera. I know it’s display size, battery length, etc. I haven’t yet found specs on the Droid 2. Anyone know that?

It might just come down to which has the better battery life. Is there a better way to pick a phone?

Advice please!

Posted by Caro in Shopping, Technology, Things to do, Videos
09Aug
0

I Suck @ This Right Now

Sorry for the epic neglect folks. Life is BUSY at the moment. Here’s a quick status update on a lot of miscellaneous fronts. And read all of them, cuz some are kind of exciting :)

1. Work: Same shit, different day. I’m still working 3 jobs. I still hate working 3 jobs. A major source of my blog neglect lately has come from one job in particular, wiping me out so I have NO energy to blog when I get home. I mean 4 grants + coordinating a scientific conference? I’m one person, and I work there 20 hours a week. Whew!

2. Marla: She hurts. I saw a neurologist and got an EMG and NCV on Friday. SO STRANGE. They put things on my foot then shocked me with a cattle-prod-thing. Get the results on Wednesday.

3. Italy: Um….I have done NOTHING Italy-related in a month. I’m starting to feel bad. But I have other things on my mind…..

4. Love Life: Well, I’m 7 years into my current relationship. We live together. AND WE’RE GETTING MARRIED!!!!!

J took me on a weekend adventure, and wouldn’t tell me anything. I had a feeling, but then again, I’ve been waiting for a while for this and thought maybe I’d have to keep waiting (boys are kinda dense). But then he took me to Sea World, where we did a behind the scenes penguin encounter. Apparently everyone else on the tour knew but me. I have tons of pics and a video of me/us petting penguins. Then we went into the back of the exhibit, and magic happened :)

Basically you can go right up to the barrier that separates the staff and the penguins, but you can’t go onto the snow (oh yeah, it’s about 20 degrees in here!). J and I walked up to this barrier, and as luck would have it, a penguin was intrigued and waddled right over to us. The little guy came all the way to the barrier and stuck his beak through it. SO AWESOME. I think I squealed in delight, and then said (to the penguin) “I love you!”. J thought I was talking to him, so he said, “I love you too, (pulled out a ring) will you marry me?”

And so we’re engaged. And we’re 100% ecstatic about it. I feel lucky to have found the love of my life, who is also my best friend, and to know I will spend the rest of my life with him. I mean, he proposed with penguins. This is clearly the guy for me! And that brings me to #5…

5. Wedding Planning: I’ve been engaged for 9 days, and I think I have a venue set. We’ve come up with our first two choices for dates (2011) and are waiting to hear back from the event coordinator. I went out to dinner with some of my friends 2 days after the proposal and they had made a bet as to how many spreadsheets I had already created (2). A week later, I have 5 total. Although the big day is over a year away, I’m not wasting a minute. Planning a wedding is kind of fun (remind me I said that if I start getting stressed 10 months from now). J is totally wonderful too. He is totally interested in this, at least so far, and while I’m the lead on the wedding planning, he’s taking the reins on the honeymoon.

So yeah. I’ve been a busy bee. I really don’t want my blog to turn into a wedding planning frenzy, so I’ll do my best to keep variety. I’ll also do my best to keep up, rather than go for weeks with no posts. And on that note, I’m going to bed. Good night world! :)

Posted by Caro in Blogging, Health, Life, News, Things to do, Travel, Weddings, Work
20Jul
3

Guns

My great uncle grew up on a ranch in the middle of nowhere in the 20s. Obviously the man owned guns; it’s just a way of life where he’s from.

After he died my parents started going through the house. They secured several firearms. One story that still makes me laugh:

Mom: “We found this revolver with no serial number, not registered. I didn’t know what to do with it. I mean it’s a gun. I certainly don’t want it.
Me: “So what did you do with it?”
Mom: “Well David (family friend) was there. I looked at him and said ‘David, do you want a gun?”
Me: “You gave him a gun?!?!”
Mom: “Yeah. What’s wrong with that?”
Me: “Um. A lot of things. Does he have a gun permit? The gun isn’t registered. I’m pretty sure that’s not legal.”
Mom: “Well he has other guns. I figured I don’t want this near me. Should I have done something else?”

Gotta love my mother. (For the record she made him bring it back and is going to get it registered.)

So then several weeks later they’ve completed round 1 of the house cleaning. Secured all 8 of the firearms. This had my mom really nervous: “Caro, what do I do with these? I mean, I need to dispose of them somehow, but I’m not driving them somewhere. Taking them in my car. Where would I even take them? The police station? Just throw them on a table and say ‘Here officers. I don’t want these.’”

But then they found my uncle’s homeowner’s policy. The one that had the itemized list of firearms. 10 firearms. As previously mentioned, various family members had only located 8. So there’s 2 weapons unaccounted for somewhere in the house. Um…..that could be a problem. Know what else could be a problem? 7 of the secured guns were loaded. 2 of them fully loaded.

So basically there’s 2 guns MIA in the house. Possibly loaded. How does one lose 2 guns? Especially when one of them is a .22 caliber rifle with a scope.

Happy hunting to us. Literally!

Posted by Caro in Family, Fears, Things to do
13Jul
0

Running Log

Mostly to self-motivate, but also to get others into it, I’ve started a new page on this blog to track my progress at the c25k. I did workout #4 last night and am feeling pretty good today.

Anyone looking for a great starter program, this is for you.

Anyone looking to kick my ass into shape, monitor my progress and let me have it if I’m slacking!!

Posted by Caro in Blogging, Health, Sports, Things to do
08Jul
0

C25K

When it comes to some things in life, I need a little motivation to get started. Like working out. I mean I love the idea of being in shape, looking good, feeling good, and being able to do fun outdoorsy activities without getting winded. But do I like going to the gym? NO! Are you crazy?

Over the past few months I was blessed to have a friend who felt the same way. Coincidentally, he lives a mile away from me. So a couple of times a week we go get pumped at the gym. It’s awesome. Sometimes you just need that little bit of motivation (a person coming over) to get you started. And I know once I’m started, it’s all good. Get me TO the gym and I will workout.

But then summer came. My gym buddy works for a school, so his lucky ass gets summers off. So he surfs all the time, and doesn’t have the time or desire to come to my janky apartment gym.

What have I been doing since summer vacay started? Well, lots of things. But sadly, not one of them has been “gym time”.

Then I saw some tweets from @itsKrust about C25K. What is that? So I google it, and it’s pretty awesome.

Basically it’s a running program designed for the person who is 100% completely out of shape and is literally starting at 0. Hence the name “Couch to 5K”

3 workouts per week for 9 weeks and you’ll be off your couch running about a 10min mile pace for 30 minutes. This is my cup of tea. I did the week 1 workout 1 yesterday and found it quite easy. So I mixed it up a bit. Added a 1.5 incline and sped up the walking portions. Also ran the last 5 min. Not too bad. I think I’ll skip ahead to week 2 next time.

The only potential setback I might have is that my current workout schedule is 2 days a week. This means I’m going to have to actually get off my couch on Saturday or Sunday to do the 3rd one each week. J said he would do it with me on Saturday. For him, this really is couch to 5K.

Wish us luck!!

Posted by Caro in Discoveries, Health, Life, Sports, Things to do
06Jul
0

Busy Busy

Between the jobs, miscellaneous random travel, my eBay business (well the 10 things I have listed), and everything else going on at this current moment in my life, I find that I have no time left to do anything else. So here’s a list of some of the things I’ve promised myself I’ll get around to this week:

1. Go back to the gym. I went once last week and 0 times the week or two before that. I blame the World Cup. I mean, I get up early, go to bed late, and of course spend my lunch breaks glued to ESPN3. So when am I supposed to burn all those calories I’m taking in while on the couch watching soccer? I guess after soccer is over!

2. Call my doctor. My gyno thinks I have GI issues, not gyno issues. So back to a different doctor I go!

3. FINISH my spring cleaning. Yeah that nice project I started like 2 months ago? Still not done. On the bright side though all I have left really is my filing cabinet and ALL of J’s stuff. He’s such a packrat. The floor area next to his side of the bed could take all week!

4. Catch up on notes. I kind slacked off last month on entering notes for my unpaid job. I guess it really goes to show that external rewards (like paychecks) are required to do the more mundane aspects of work.

5. Read another book. Ok let’s be honest. I’m not going to read a whole book this week. But starting one of the many I’ve purchased for the summer would make me happy. So let’s list this goal as “read 1 chapter of a book”

6. Go back to the gym. I’ve already listed this, but I have to go more than once this week if I’m going to fit into my “summer” clothes before the end of summer.

That should suffice. Words of encouragement are most definitely appreciated. After all, this is a short week!!!

Posted by Caro in Life, Random, Things to do
28Jun
0

Cranking It Out

I’m laying here on my loveseat, enjoying the Netherlands vs. Slovakia game (despite already knowing the outcome) pumping myself up to crank out some posts. I slept funny on my neck 2 nights ago and it hurts. Not just a little. The pain randomly radiates down my shoulder blade. So I’m propped up with pillows, a heating pad, and a glass of wine (alcohol: the oldest analgesic known to man. Or something. lol)

Let’s see how many I can do :)

Posted by Caro in Blogging, Health, Life, Things to do
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