What A Week!

I survived! 

This was my first week at the new job. I must say, there's a lot to learn, but I'm enjoying it! After being sick all of last week with the flu and then jumping into this new job while recovering, my body is exhausted. Luckily, we got Mitch to the doctor in time so he was able to avoid most of the sickness. I am currently left with bronchitis, but I'll definitely take that over last weeks germs!

I had an interview at the local bridal salon this week, too! I am very excited to be getting back into the wedding world. It's VERY close to home, it's something I enjoy, it's part time and a little extra money in my bank account. I go in tomorrow for a few hours to try it out and see if I like it there. I'm sure I will since I've done this before. 

I made a decision this week and it may come off as very selfish: It's time to put myself, my goals and my needs first. For anyone that knows me, they know that I'm always worried about everyone else and never myself. Sometimes this is okay, but now it's affecting my health, and that can't happen. I've overcome an awful lot of medical obstacles over the years, it's a miracle I'm still alive (for more than one reason). I've decided to schedule an appointment with a specialist and just make sure that everything is okay :) the longer I put it off, the worse it is going to get. 

I'll be heading to the gym starting this week! Now that I know what my schedule is like and I'm almost over this icky sickness, I can get to it! I am also excited about having a normal eating schedule! I've decided that I am drastically cutting down on eating out, too. Mitch might be eating alone hahaha. He LOVES going out to eat and we have done so about 5 times a week for the 2 years we've been together.

Speaking of, this coming Tuesday is our 2 year anniversary! Woo! Time flies! 

Now, time to relax :) 

Opportunity Is A-Knockin'

I don't think I could have made it through the last 6 weeks without Mitch's love and support. After leaving my job, things got a little on the rougher side for me. The economy isn't exactly in it's prime. I've spent this time reflecting on what my goals truly are and what I want for myself as well for Mitch and I and our future.

I've come to see that life is happening right now. You don't get any retakes. This is it and it's time to take it seriously. I've decided to come up with a budget and a stern savings plan that is achievable. No sense in setting yourself up for failure! I've figured out what I want to get accomplished this year and where I want my life to be in a year. Starting out small isn't a bad thing, we've all got to start somewhere.

Mitch got good news a couple of days ago.. He's getting to move from swing shift to daylight for 9 months! He has been offered an amazing learning opportunity to further his career and with that, he will get an awesome M-F schedule! He was on daylight last year for about three and a half months and it was great!

My awesome news came about the same time.. I was offered an amazing position with an even more amazing company. The people are wonderful, the mission and goals are fantastic, growth is unstoppable and the benefits are great! I can't even explain how excited I am to move my career in this direction!

I'm really excited that we will have matching schedules (for the most part) and be able to further grow our relationship. I'm so blessed that Mitch gave me so much support and had the patience to let me find a place where I felt I truly belonged.

This is our year.. I just know it! :)

Time To Be Positive

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

I think most people are familiar with this quote (attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt). Lately I've been feeling ridiculed and torn down by some of the people that are closest to me and every time, these words replay in my mind. We really are in control of how we let ourselves feel. Granted, there will be times of feeling down and out, it's only natural. At the end of the day, we alone are the ones responsible for our own happiness.

After talking things over with Mitch the other night, he reminded me that I don't have to take crap from people. I am a grown woman who has overcome a lot of things and I need to stand my ground and at the end of the day, he will be there supporting me. Everyone has a past and has made mistakes. Some mistakes we've learned from and some we're still working on changing. It's life. It's no one's place to constantly remind you of your flaws nor do they have the right to constantly penalize or bring up your "failures" or what you've done wrong. It amazes me that no matter how much good you've done, that one bad choice will always seem to outweigh it all. 

I recently made the decision to create boundaries. If someone crosses a line, I will let them know (nicely, of course). I am almost 25, it's time to be treated as such. Another thing that I've started doing in order to keep positive is a Gratitude Journal. Every night before I go to bed, I write one sentence stating 1 thing from that day that I'm really thankful for or 1 good memory from the day. It will be neat to look back at the end of the year or even a few years down the road and see all of the good things of the year. 

So with that being said, remain positive. Usually we are our own worst critics.. give yourself a break and ignore the judgmental people of the world. They're usually picking at you to avoid looking at themselves.

Well Hello There, 2O13!

Yesterday was New Year's Eve & honestly, it was the perfect way to close out 2012. Mitch and I were fortunate to spend most of the afternoon with Samboni! We headed out to Lancaster and did a little shopping and then came home to relax before kicking off the evening's festivities. Mitch and I both agreed that we didn't want to throw a party this year, so him and I got spiffed up and headed into the city!

Of course our first stop was the Belvedere. That is one of our favorite bars, mainly because of an amazing bartender; Jamie! Unfortunately that led to a couple of awkward moments, but life goes on. It certainly didn't ruin our night! After a couple of drinks there, we wandered through town and ended up at Marion Court. We had a drink or two and got party hats before heading over to the square to watch the Rose drop! This was our first time there and boy were we surprised at how little it was! The countdown was chanted, kisses were shared and an amazing firework display lit up the sky! We wandered back to Marion Court but decided we should head out of town (especially since people were throwing up all over the bar and bathrooms). We hit up Denny's for a late night breakfast and just enjoyed each other's company. We spent most of our night laughing and holding hands.. I couldn't imagine a better night. I'm very thankful that Mitch works for an awesome supervisor on his new crew and was able to take the night off of work!


Now unfortunately, I'm one of those people that wants to do everything but rarely manages to cross anything off the list. Instead, it seems that I add 5 things a day to it. With the arrival of the new year, I've decided that now is just as good a time as any to make a change. With the whirlwind of this year almost in my rear view mirror, I'm ready to take on 2O13 full speed ahead. With that said, I've created somewhat of a bucket list of things that I WILL accomplish in the next 12 months.

1. Random acts of kindness as often as possible. (Random notes of encouragement, bake goodies or cook a meal for someone, just because, send flowers for no reason).

2. Do some sort of Volunteer work at least once a quarter (i.e. soup kitchen, boys and girls club, etc.)

3. Open a savings account and save at least $100 a month that I will NOT touch ($100 doesn't sound like much, but you have to start somewhere)

4. Incorporate the gym into my routine at least 4 times a week

5. Go camping, fishing and hiking

6. Visit my little brother at least twice this year

7. Take WAY more pictures and create photo albums 

8. Be done with my Christmas shopping by Halloween (except some random odds and ends!-no more stressing!)

9. Spend at least a half hour a day in the Word, and at least one hour on Sundays.

10. Visit Boston, Cape May NJ, NYC and DC

11. Run the Philadelphia Half Marathon in November and at least 3 5k races

12. Learn my way around the kitchen and make at least 2 new recipes a month and keep a recipe box with the good ones! :)

...That's it for now. I'm sure I'll add more as time goes on, but these are DEFINITELY going to get accomplished!

2012.. Almost Over?!

Maybe it's just me but the older I get, the quicker the years seem to go by. I could have sworn we just had our friends over to ring in 2012!

I turned 24 and Mitch turned 26. We are both having a hard time believing that we're really this old (I know we're not ancient, we're just wondering where the time went!) Life lessons were learned, fun was had and cars were, of course, purchased and blown up. 2012 was a year for growing and changes.

I moved in with Mitch this year. The first reaction we get is "I thought you were both waiting for marriage?!" Believe it or not, 2 adults can live in the same house and sleep in the same bed every night and still save ourselves for when we are married. It cracks me up when people find this so hard to believe. It's amazing what you can do when you make a commitment and put your mind to it. 

Living together has been amazing but has presented some challenges. We're both independent and used to having our own space but after a little bit of adjusting, things have worked out quite perfectly :)

We learned a lot about our friends this year, too. We learned who the real ones are versus who was just clutter in our lives. We also learned that no matter how old some people get, they just can't let things go and grow up. Instead of being spiteful towards those, I chose the path of prayer; prayer to give me strength to not handle it myself and prayer for them to move on with their lives and prayer that they will find what they're looking for.

Family was a big thing this year, too. As most of you know, I had a crazy intense and long drawn out legal battle with mine. Going back to the "no matter how old some people get.." line, my blood relatives really proved that theory! Finally after 7 months of what felt like Hell, I won and never looked back. Due to all of the craziness, I literally have cut off EVERY single relative I have and I couldn't be more at peace. Mitch has such a loving and welcoming family and for that, I'm thankful. His parents have already become my own and his brother has become one of my closest friends. I love how tight knit we all are!

My best friend, Ashley, got engaged in May! It was so exciting! They set the date for exactly one year from their engagement date and I am the MOH :) Of course the latter half of the year has been filled with cake taste testing, floral appointments, dress shopping and fittings & choosing invites, save the dates, favors and more! It has been exciting and I cannot wait for them to tie the knot! So far, Mitch and I have 4 weddings to attend in 2013. It's getting hectic! And with more and more of our friends getting closer to taking the plunge, we know that we're going to be getting even busier. 

2012 brought 2 new additions to our little family.. Charlotte and Rose (our 2 rats)! Larry and Moe are so curious about them. We feel like we already have two children in the terrible 2 stage of life. The only time they want to investigate the girls is when we're trying to sleep. (It may also have something to do with their father giving them catnip before we go to bed). 

We started attending a new church this year and have decided that this is where we would get married. We adore that it's a smaller church, we support their ministry and we always feel as though we leave with a little something more than how we went in their. 

A 2001 Camaro SS and a 1989 Toyota MR2 have been added to the outside decor of the home ;-) Mitch actually wrecked the MR2 after work one night on his way to meet me at his parents for dinner. He slid on a patch of ice, spun out and hit a wooden post. Thankfully he wasn't even the slightest bit injured, but boy was the car in rough shape. Being the creative man he is, he decided to turn it into an auto-x car.. ripped out all of the glass, panels, hood, trunk, bumpers, coolant lines, anything that wasn't necessary to drive it around a course (including the passenger seat). He ended up buying a 1987 MR2 up in New York (scariest road trip ever! Picture a 4 door Dodge Ram 1500 with a car trailer on the back with an MR2 on it.. flying down the streets of Manhattan and through tunnels- not okay!) We had that car for maybe 2 weeks before he decided to sell it due to lack of interest. Also, a new dirt bike has been added to the clan! 

Trips to Allegheny, Potato City and Michaux State Forest were also accomplished. SO much fun! Pretty excited for riding season to be back! We were also very lucky to take a few other vacations as well! We made it down for Hot Rod Weekend again this year, H2Oi, Ocean City NJ, a couple other spontaneous trips to OCMD and Bushkill Falls! 

As this year is wrapping up, we are just getting started with writing the next chapter. 2012 was an eventful year, but I'm okay with seeing it go. 2013 is going to be a great year, I can feel it already! Happy New Year everyone!