Father's Day

Today, we celebrate fathers. Grandfathers. Uncles. I'm so grateful for the men in my life. And I can't wait to see what a great father Fiance will be.

:o)

Back... With a Date!

Not THAT kind of date... I already have a perfect, permanent date in Fiance. :o)

But we set the date for our wedding in Scottsdale, Arizona! I'm so happy that our favorite spots (a beautiful, wrought-iron, sparkly twinkle-lit courtyard lined with bouganvilla for the ceremony, a large, chandelier'ed room for the reception) were OPEN and waiting for us to book them. We'll get married in almost exactly a year and I'm so excited.

What else did we end up doing? I'll start from the top!

We left Friday night, after Fiance got off work, which ended up being around 10:30. So yeah. We got to Phoenix around 3:30 THEIR time, which is 4:30 ours. Most of that last hour, though, was spent trying to avoid a traffic jam due to an accident in Phoenix and trying to get alllll the way across the city (we were spending the night at Fiance's mom's house... she just moved there for her job!) to Litchfield Park.

We slept long and hard that night and the next day, we got up and headed over to the resort, where we spent the afternoon swimming, drinking margaritas, and getting (a little too much) sun! It was glorious. We went to dinner at Oreganos Pizza that night and it was TO DIE FOR. SO delicious. I love pizza and this did not disappoint!

Then we headed to the baseball game!



We had great seats thanks to my dad, and it was an enjoyable game with a grand slam right in the middle of the fourth!

The next day, we met up with Fiance's mom for some chicken and waffles at Lolo's! i've never tried the combination (though I had heard it was delicious), so I was excited to try something new.



Oh my God. It was amazing. I just got the one waffle and two drumsticks and it was SO GOOD! I didn't even remember to take a photo until I had already devoured most of my meal!



So yummy. I've been dreaming about it since we left.

Fiance had to go to Albuquerque for work, so he left on Sunday afternoon and I spent the rest of the day hanging out with my family by the pool and getting ready for our bridal appointment the next day.

All in all, it was a great weekend and I can't wait to go back!

Sunshines/Dark Clouds

Hi all! I'm going to keep this pretty short because I just got home from work and I have a bunch of stuff to do before we take off to Phoenix this weekend for a little family reunion/getaway! Hooray!

DARK CLOUDS:

• I have to go to Wal-Mart. I hate that place. But I need specific cleaning supplies from there.
• We're leaving Shadow here this weekend with my roommate and his dog, Remix. I know he'll be happy here, in his home, but I'm going to miss him!
• Fiance is getting a promotion (yay pay raise!) BUT has to go to a week-long training three hours away next week. It'll be the first time I've been away from him in a while. :o(
• I have to clean the bathroom/shower/sweep/wipe counters and I DON'T WANNA! Lol

SUNSHINES:

• Phoenix Phoenix Phoenix!
• In 'n Out! Enough said!
• A good friend of mine offered to help us out with our engagement photos at a really great price. I'm so excited to get them done! AND she had the great idea of adding Shadow into the photos... I agree! Can't wait!
• Hopefully, we get to set the date this weekend! YAY!
• Fiance cleaned the living room and dusted and I'm so grateful for his help!

Have a great weekend! I'll be back on Monday!

Teen Mom Drinking Game

One of my favorite shows (as I've mentioned before) is TEEN MOM on MTV. Season one? Season two? Doesn't matter. Love them all. Hopefully I love the season 3 girls just as much!

But now, CMT is playing a mini-marathon of Teen Mom 2 and I've started noticing little quirks about the girls. Sometimes, they are so predictable that you can set your watch by them... or drink to them! I now present to you my TEEN MOM DRINKING GAME... made up entirely by me based on years of dedicated Teen Mom watching! :o)

TEEN MOM Drinking Game (Seasons One and Two)

Drink when...

You see leopard print near Chelsea

They have to put subtitles when Corey talks

They have to put subtitles when Leah talks

 Farrah does her ugly crying face

Adam says something mean to Chelsea

Amber gets mad at Gary

 Jenelle and her mom fight

Bentley gets into trouble/into something at the house

Keifer wears that green hoodie

Adam doesn't wear a shirt

Corey wears that torn up camo hat

Chelsea's dad gives her money/a gift

Catelynn and Tyler kiss/say I love you (they're my favorites)

Butch goes to jail/gets released from jail

Everytime someone gets engaged

Everytime someone breaks up

Pretty awesome, right? Gotta love Teen Mom!

Summer

Summer is such the best. I used to think I only loved summer because of those carefree, no school days, but nope. There's something magical about summer, especially summers in New Mexico and ESPECIALLY summer evenings in New Mexico. Desert summer evenings are pefect: the desert air doesn't hold onto the heat, so evenings are as cool as the wind but still, and bright with the moon, and wonderful.

One of my absolute FAVORITE things about summer is the food. Avocados, watermelon, strawberries, nectarines, honeydew... wonderful, fresh, cool foods for the hot summer weather. Fiance and I have gone through FOUR watermelons in one month. I LOVE watermelon.

That's one of the reasons I'm so set on a summer wedding. My parents were married in June (in Brawley California, in 114 degree weather, fo which they were thankful as the weather forcasted 120 that day!) and I love the thought of the warm sun on their shoulders, of dancing all night in strapless dresses without shivering, of beautiful summer sunsets as their backdrop.

I'm so glad Fiance and I have the same ideas on climate. My little, Dianna, once told me she thinks there are three to five serious issues on which couples need to agree before they can move forward into a real, forever kind of relationship. The first, of course, being whether they are ready for a monogamous relationship. The next, deciding whether or not to have kids (and if so, how many? One? Five?). The third, how to handle money at home (spend it all? Save it all? Spend some, save some?). The fourth, what kind of climate is preferrable to the family? Does one hate snow and the other love the cold? Compromise, of course, is always an option, but like Dianna said, I think couples should be on similar pages when it comes to WHERE to put down roots.

Of course, a real relationship can happen without solidifying ALL of these issues (like climate or money), but it does make it easier to know these things upfront before jumping into marriage and realizing that your partner spends WAY more than you make.

ANYWAY, where was I going with this? Oh, right. Climate.

Fiance has done manual labor stuff through college (working at a plant nursery and then lugging boxes) and in doing so, has become EXTREMELY heat tolerant. I, on the other hand, have AWFUL circulation and I'm ALWAYS cold. I was too cold in Boston in November. I wore leggings under all my jeans, then a camisole, a tshirt, a sweater, a parka and a scarf the entire time I was there. Bostonians were wearing just t-shirts and leggings. My skin is not thick. And I LOVE the heat. Every winter when we get some random snow storm and the city shuts down and I shiver until my stomach actually hurts, we curse the cold and talk about moving to Phoenix as soon as possible!

What about you? Are you a summer person or a winter person? I'm DEFINITELY a summer person!

Insanity

Has anyone ever done the Insanity workout? It looks HARD and RIDICULOUS but... like a really great cardio workout. I'm contemplating attempting this. Anyone have any pros/cons?

Help me out!

SUNSHINES and DARK CLOUDS

Whew, another sunshine and dark cloud session which is always great because that means its FRIDAY! YAY! Here we go:

DARK CLOUDS

• I miss my ring! I want it back!
• It's been windy and icky lately. Here we go, summer!
• No good movies are out... I already saw Avengers and I'd love to see Hunger Games again, but other than that... :o(
• I've been feeling really hot and sticky lately... plus I feel like I'm retaining water. I'm not eating any more sodium than normal... wonder what's up?

SUNSHINES

• My boss gave me his standing freezer and I'm SO excited to have it (nerdy, right?). Sometimes, Fiance goes to work before I get home and with this, I can make casseroles and leave instructions on how to heat it up and poof! Fiance has a great, hot meal no matter what time I get home!
• Tomorrow, I start the Couch to 5K program with my little Shadow and I'm excited! I think running with him will be great exercise for both of us and a great bonding experience! :o)
• Last week, I FINALLY got a couple of shirts that fit me! Hooray!
• I ALSO got a great little Coach clutch for just $30. Love sales and outlet malls! :o)
• We have a nice relaxing weekend on the agenda. Last week, my sister came into town and it was SO great to see her, but we were busy like CRAZY telling our families and seeing her. This weekend? Just movies, the newest True Blood season on DVD, and some Greek food!
• my favorite thing about wedding planning is HONEYMOON planning! Hawaii? Vegas? San Diego? Bahamas? (Can you tell I'm leaning toward a beach vacation? After all the planning and working out to get ready, I know I'll need a nice relaxing vacation to follow it up!)
• Next week, we're heading to Phoenix and we'll get to meet with my potential wedding planner! We already had this trip scheduled, but a couple days after we got engaged, I emailed the planner and asked if we could meet. We could, so we are! Let's get this wedding planning started!

Have a great day! :o)