Whiskey For Breakfast

I can't believe it's Good Friday, that Easter is only two days away, and that we are already 1/3rd through 2013. Time {sure does} fly when you are having fun.

Speaking of fun, I'm going to tell you about St. Patrick's Day. Obviously, Will was in training, but our friend Buck decided that we were going snowboarding.  I was apprehensive about going without Will, however, Buck is our so-called "son", which is the next best thing. I've mentioned him many times, and realize I haven't told you much about him,
so here he is:

+ He's a Texan

+ An NCO in the Army 

+ He loves Breckenridge Whiskey and mashed potatoes

+ He only eats vegetables when I make him

+ He will be in Alaska in less than a year, so single Alaskan ladies...get READY!

At first, I was super pumped for a holiday in the snow, but on the way up we realized that the snow wasn't going to let up. I HATE snowboarding unless it is bright and sunny, so I decided that we needed a hearty meal before braving the weather.

Now, you know I don't drink, but as you can imagine, I ALWAYS get carded when I do partake. That is, except for this day, because as Buck put it, "They figure you are over 21 if you order whiskey with your breakfast." Don't judge me, I was trying to warm up from the inside out.

Shots at 9AM? Why not.

The sun never really made an appearance, but it wasn't too bad and we were shreddin'. I definitely saw some improvement and we had a great time with lots of laughs and lots of rolling down the mountain for both of us. 

After our bodies couldn't take anymore, we went to see some friends that live in Dillon, and we all went to dinner at the Dam Brewery. It has THE BEST Buffalo burgers in the world. Hands down. When we head up there this weekend, I hope we get to go again!

We found out the boys have Monday off, so we are taking advantage of the three day weekend. There are already plans of parties, snowboarding, yummy food, and hopefully a little relaxation {in my dreams}. Hubby is even getting work done on his side tattoo by our friend Chago. I wanted to get one too, but I think it will have to wait. His is going to take about five hours, which equals a LOT of money. Yes, I know it will still be the same amount of money whether I do it now or later, but my cheapskate side doesn't see it that way. Hehe.

Anywhoo, in spite of my tattoo probs, the weekend should be perfect. I hope the same for you all too, and Happy Easter! Let's hope the Easter Bunny sends good weather to us all ;)

She's Gone Country...

Oh boy, these long days just keep comin'!

Last night, I didn't make it home until 11:30. As in PM.

But let's not dwell on that. Instead, I would like to share an amazingly easy, delish meal.

Slow Low Country Boil

ingredients:

4 quarts cold water

1/4 cup Old Bay or other spicy seasoning

1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more, to taste

4 celery stalks, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 yellow onion, diced

1 head garlic, halved

2 1/2 pounds small red potatoes

4 ears corn, shucked, each cut into 4 pieces

2 pounds smoked sausage, cut into 1 1/2-inch slices

2 pounds medium shrimp, in the shell, deveined

directions:

In a slow cooker combine the water, Old Bay seasoning, salt, celery, onion, garlic and potatoes and cook on low heat until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife, 4-6 hours. 

Add the corn and sausage to the crock pot and simmer until the corn is tender, 1-2 more hours. Add the shrimp and simmer until opaque, 20 to 30 minutes more. Taste the broth and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper, if necessary. 

Serve immediately.

It is officially hubby approved!

{original recipe found through Kate @ Daffodil's

 Thanks for all the votes too. I think I will be making it to the third round with all of the help y'all have given me! Woohoo.

I NEED Your Help!

Most of you know where I work, but some of the newbies may be surprised by this post ;)

Source: freefunnyshit.com via Janna on Pinterest

Since it's Basketball season, I got roped into being a part of 94.3 Kilo's Bracket Babes Competition, and I have made it to the second of three rounds!

This week, the top two from each store go head to head, so I need you to vote for ME! I mean, I am your favorite Hooters girl, right?

This is NOT the real vote. This is just a visual aid:

It is as simple as that! You don't have to give out any information or sign up for anything.We have a big store rivalry here in Colorado Springs, so I'm going to need all the help I can get. As a matter of fact, if I make it to Round 3, I will incorporate a giveaway to BUY your votes. Hehe.

Vote here: Kilo Bracket Babes
{If you see the results and not a vote button, try to refresh. Should work!}

March Madness And A Wonderful Weekend

After twenty-two days, I finally have my hubby back! He doesn't have to scarf dinner, do homework, go to sleep at 8PM to get up at 4AM, or work on the weekends anymore! It might have been Aunt Flo's fault, but I cried several times just overflowing with emotion. Golly gee...I just can't help but love him.

Knowing that this weekend would be his first weekend off, I asked Will what he would like to do. I was thinking he'd want to go out and get rowdy or at least get dinner, but guess what? His response was that he wanted to stay home, have movie marathons, and just spend time with me! Ooooh Yeeeeaaahh ;)

As usual we planned to go to the gym both days, but Mother Nature had other plans. She didn't care that it was "Spring Break", so we had "Blowing Snow" all day Saturday. That didn't stop us, though. We had a workout party in the living room, and tried Insanity out. I'm not a fan. I'd rather do Jillian Michaels or go running any day. Everyone's right, it is intense, but almost too intense. I want to enjoy working out, not have a heart attack in my living room.

Other than that, we watched sappy movies (Will knows that they are totally an aphrodisiac), drank Cupcake Red Velvet, and cuddled up by the fire in my adult onesie.

We also found time to cross some more off the to-do list:

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My Kick@ss Cohost: 
Megan From Growing Up Is Actually Kind Of Fun

Thanks to Rebecca, I have made headway on my iPhone storage issues, so between that and the books that Will got me, I WILL be updated by the end of March Madness!
I got laundry done AND put away all in one day.
I REPEAT:
I got laundry done AND put away all in one day.
The Bogert's had a cleaning/organizing party on Sunday.
{I don't care if my husband has ulterior motives when he cleans. I like a clean house and sex.}

Source: history.icanhascheezburger.com via Janna on Pinterest

I cleaned 10GB of crap off my laptop and organized photo folders.
I've decided I take entirely too many pictures.
I installed my camera software and uploaded the first set of pictures.

I can't even put into words how much I LOVE this camera. The video is HD and auto-adjusts itself, the pictures come out striking, and the software for the camera is super user friendly. The following is basically unedited, taken without a flash, and I didn't even have to change a single setting on the camera. Point and shoot capabilities, but totally high quality!



Remember, next Monday is the final link up for March Madness. Whether you have participated along the way or not, feel free to share your craziness of March. We should ALL be proud that we made it through and that it's time for some Spring time fun!

                   

The Military Ball

After almost three years in the Army, we finally got to go to our first Military Ball!

What made it even better, was that my friend Ashley was Buck's date. She is a fellow blogger, and although her blog is on hold for the moment, this totally counts as a blate.

Isn't she absolutely gorgeous? My Lebanese beauty...

It was a night of sexy men in uniform:

Dessert before dinner. Helloooo German Chocolate Cake:

And of course, adult beverages!

We even got to witness a proposal!

This dude was so smart to capitalize on the occasion. Very smooth dude...

Dress: J.Crew Bridesmaid dress repurposed

Shoes: Burlington's $20

Necklace: Cheap-O store $5
Stylin' on a budget? Priceless.

It's hard to really put into words what a night like this encompasses. These soldiers just returned from Afghanistan so there was much celebration, and yet sadness was present for the soldiers that didn't make it home from this deployment. It was a surreal experience, celebrating when the fallen will never celebrate again. All we can do is be thankful. 
Thankful for those who serve and thankful for those who give the ultimate sacrifice.

Mostly, I would like to thank my Mr. for returning safely to me. He graduates from his training course today, so I will be enjoying the heck out of him this weekend. I hope you all have a great weekend too :)

My Psychic Abilities Are Undeniable

I've already proven that I'm Psychic, but in case you aren't a believer or are new around here...I had another pregnancy dream and boy was it a doozie!

The very next day, the first person {other than Will} that I told about the dream was my SIL, Paula. She and my brother have been trying to have kids for about five years, so I actually felt bad telling her about the dream, and yet...I felt compelled to tell her. She laughed it off and assumed that her sister was pregnant again. Skip to six weeks later, and I get a call from my brother telling me that I should be expecting a new niece or nephew!

Add another six weeks and I found out that Alison and Justin have reached twelve weeks! 
They have also been workin' hard at baby makin', and now they too can give hope to other parents that are trying!

Source: alisonandjustin.blogspot.com via Janna on Pinterest

I'm not saying that I helped either of these beautiful and amazing women get pregnant, but I am quite proud that my dream coincides with the EXACT time that both got pregnant.

As if that's not enough, I've also been pegging look-a-like's lately. People would always say so-and-so looks like so-and-so, but I could never see it. Now all of a sudden I can! 

Case in point, I told Kait that her fiance looked like a {way cuter, smart, and not desperate} Bachelor dude, and she sent me this:

Am I right, or am I right?

Maybe I should start palm readings and seances...could be fun ;)

I {almost} Died on Monday

...But not really.
I will spare you the gory details and just tell you that I sliced my thumb up. My boss was ready to send me to the hospital, but I thought it unnecessary. Why do we always do that? If someone else was bleeding all over the place, I would definitely tell them to go get it checked. When I do it- I wrap it up and watch the bandaging turn crimson.

I'm not sure if that was the cause, but I passed out at 8PM that night and slept for eleven hours straight. Normally I wouldn't care, but I didn't have a blog post scheduled for Tuesday and wanted to spend time with Will, since he had to spend Tuesday night sleeping out in the field. I think I need to reevaluate my time management if I can't even stay awake for that.

I spend foutry-nine hours/week sleeping, twenty-six hours/week at work, thirty-five+ hours/week blogging, and five+ hours/week working out.
**My hat is off to bloggers that work full time and/or have children. 
I don't know how you keep it all together, and look so fabulous while you do it!**

168-49-26-35-5=53

This leaves me with fifty-three hours for EVERYTHING else- cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, "fun", and most importantly, Will. Granted I do the majority of this "stuff" while he is working and sleeping, but it is still leaving me overwhelmed. Instead of letting myself get burnt out, I would like to work on better time management. Unfortunately, the only thing I can cut back on is blogging, but I think that if I quit overextending myself I can tighten up this ship.

+ I will kick butt with March Madness {two weeks left to make my to-do list a to-done list}.
+ I will use some of the 100's of blog drafts that I have saved, instead of stressing about recapping immediately. So what if I haven't posted about the Military Ball yet? It can wait.
+ I will learn to say no to projects, giveaways, and link ups if I can't handle them.
+I will remember the advice that I read on another blog...
This blog is my letters to you, and your wonderful comments are your letters back to me. I need to remember that as long as I read every comment, answer any questions, and continue to grow relationships, I am doing okay.

Kait wrote some powerful words recently, that are now resonating in my head:

But I have come to a point of reckoning. Sometimes it's okay to just "be". Be grateful with what you have. Be happy for what you have done. Be excited for the potential that the future holds.

And for once, let your expectations do the waiting.

Today, I'm just going to be...
 Thankful that my husband is in training to better his career.
That I have a house to take care of.
That I have the skills to cook for my love.
That I have a job.

That I have discovered this obsession hobby of working out.

That I have so many wonderful bloggers as friends and companions.

That I have so many ideas popping out of my head that I can't keep up with what I want to blog about day to day. {No such thing as writer's block over here!}

So what are you all thankful for today?

March Madness, Almost A Meltdown

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Hostesses: Moi and Megan from Growing up Is Kind Of Fun
Co-Hostesses this week:
Whitney from Everything Happens For A Reason
Rebecca from Puddle Of Grace
Michael from Crazy Tragic {Almost} Magic

I have gotten mixed answers as to whether I need to keep or delete my previous iCloud backups, so Saturday I tried to call Apple. The following conversation ensued:

Apple Dude: "M'am, your warranty is up, so we can no longer assist you. You should call your cellular provider." 

Me: "Hmm...Well they told me to call you."

Apple Dude: "Sorry m'am. I can't help you."

Me: "You can't be a human being and answer one simple question for another human being?"

Apple Dude: "Hold on. Let me ask the chick next to me. She has an iPhone."

Since when was it okay for a company to just stop helping you when a warranty was up? Shouldn't they be able to help you regarding their product no matter what? Just because Apple puts out books on their product that a user has to purchase $$$, doesn't mean they should be able to stop serving their product users. No, you money grubbers, that does not make me want to go buy an iPhone that is in warranty. It makes me want to buy a DIFFERENT BRAND. Gosh, we are all such suckers, and they know it.

Source: google.ie via Janna on Pinterest

When Will came home, we began talking about my dilemma. All of a Sudden, I got very emotional about it and didn't want to talk about it. You see, I felt that I had been dropping plenty of demands hints that I needed his help and my knight in shining armor hadn't figured it out. I am so used to him taking care of all of the technology issues and just saving the day in general that I didn't understand how he could let me feel so helpless when it came to this stupid problem.

Not only did he figure out the answer to my biggest problem (the iCloud backups), but he got me TWO books on the iCloud for my Kindle. Sometimes the hero just needs a little push ;)

+ Needless to say, my phone is still not updated, but I am closer to it!

+ I went to the gym four times this week and clocked 20 miles.

+ I have been taking my new camera everywhere, so now I have to install the software on my laptop, so that I can upload the pictures!

+ I loaded two boxes up for donations.

+ I am almost done with one of the two books that I planned to read, and now I have added two more to that list.

Now we all need better Blog organization, correct?
It's pretty much always on my to-do list, so I'm going to assume you are nodding your head yes. Our first lovely co-host today, has inspired me to be a planner, so read how you can get her plan of action FREE:

When Janna asked if I wanted to be one of her co-hosts for March Madness because I am "awesome at blog organisation" I had to laugh because when it comes to my blog I feel anything but organized, however I knew why she was asking and that was because of my blog planner.

In January I took part in a swap and the theme was resolutions, I was paired with Sarah whose goal for the coming year was to be more organized with her blog and so to help her with this I set about making her a planner. I tried to think of all the things someone with a "big blog" might need and the finished product  consisted of a stats page, monthly view pages, weekly view pages, review and giveaway info, sponsor sheets, guest posting sheets and to do lists. 

When I wrote about this planner on my blog I offered to email the printables to anyone who wanted them and Janna was one of the lovely people who said "yes, please." I'm now offering the same to all of  you, just head over here where you can see pictures of each page and if you want me to send them your way just leave me a comment letting me know.

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The always fun Michael, is checking in with her goals. I love how this girl keeps it real, and is holding herself accountable.

{March Goals}

Go to the gym at least 3x a week I think I've been doing okay on this bu there's always room for improvement. I didn't want to go to the gym last Monday so instead I did weights at home and then did day 1 of the C25K program. However, Spring Break was this past week, so I completely fell off the wagon. Time to get back to it!

Start building my savings account  I've been being diligent about this. I am so insanely, unbelievably fed up with never having extra money if an impromptu dinner invite comes up. It sounds ridiculous but I always pay too many bills and then have maybe $30 in my account to last me the next 2 weeks. You know what that adds up to? A whole lotta missed shoes fun! 

Meal Planning I confess that I haven't been doing this at all. Mainly because when I decided to start doing it I had no specific plan in mind. Meal planning. That was it. Ok, well I've since revamped this and I want to have at least 3 meals planned out or prepped each week. Crock pot friendly recipes are a life saver so I'll be looking into those. Unfortunately, everything I keep seeing is cheesy fatty goodness so I'll be on the look out for lighter options.

Reorganize music and make new playlists I swear this will never be complete. I've very picky about how my music is organized. I just moved everything from my external HD back to my laptop, which was a pain. So far, all is good. I'm still redoing my playlists. 

Stay focused in school This sounds like it should be easy but it's not. I take night classes because I work all day. Commuting from Manhattan to NJ to get my car and then driving to school all within 90 minutes is not always easy. It makes for long, exhausting days and when I finally get home, all I want to do is crash. I need to work out a better system for staying on top of everything and still having a life. 

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And our third fashionista, is Whitney!

You will find her goals for March on her blog. She happens to be the queen of lists, so I was super happy when she asked to participate!

So how is everyone doing?
Link up, so that I can check your progress!

Would You Think I Was Weird...

...If I told you that I didn't like to have fun without my husband?
For example, our friend Buck asked if I wanted to go snowboarding two weekends in a row, and I said no because Will couldn't go. Will told me I was silly to say no and that he wants me to go, but I just didn't have the desire to go without him.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this could be the last time I get to go this season. Who knows? With this Military life we lead, we could end up moving in a year's time, so this could be the last time for awhile. Or forever.

I am watching the sky turn pink after getting up at 6AM on this beautiful Springi-sh morning, and I am just going to go into the weekend with an open mind.

Life is full of opportunities. It is also full of missed opportunities. It is your choice.

Source: forbes.com via Janna on Pinterest

Source: someecards.com via Janna on Pinterest

Source: someecards.com via Janna on Pinterest

This morning's opportunity is a run before work. I NEVER thought that I would be happy about getting up before the sun just so that I could go for a run. It's okay if you think I'm crazy. I still can't believe it. I think I'm going insane.

Source: pavementrunner.com via Janna on Pinterest

Okay, that's enough Philosophy for the day. How 'bout we all just have a great weekend?
Mmmmmkay?

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Source: artmind-etcetera.blogspot.com via Janna on Pinterest