"8 Days a Week"... 365 days later...

I warned you all a couple months back that today would be a mushy, gushy, vomit-able post. I promise to keep it short and sweet...

Every now and then we face things that are difficult and that truly test who we are and our limits of how strong a person we can possibly become. Often in life, when those things happen, we're blessed with meeting exactly the right person at exactly the right time. 

I met him when I needed a friend most with no preconceived notions of who I was or my situation.

I fell in love with him when I wondered if love was in the cards for me and questioned if I was worthy of that kick ass aspect of life.

He helped me remember how strong I am and what an independent and beautiful woman I've been all along.

A year later- we still make people around us want to puke.

:)

Right when he asked me to be his- 10/3/10

Celebrating 11 months, 4 weeks ago 

I love you, person!! Here's to adventuring, gassy puppies, smiling as soon as we wake up in the morning, and a whole lot of the best times ever.

Here's to year 2...

August ain't so bad...

I cannot believe August is almost over...

It's been one hell of a month people! Lots of stuff going on and no sign of it stopping any time soon. It's crazy to think this year is going by so quickly. 

I'm incredibly blessed to- 

*work at a job I love (even if I have days where I want to turn to crying kids in the audience and stop the show till they shut up), 

*have a ridiculously loving and caring person (even if every once in a blue moon he makes me want to rip my hair out ok, let's be serious I make him want to rip his hair out... I have no idea how he's so patient all the time! And I thought I was good!), 

*and have the most considerate and attentive friends and family a girl could ask for (even though half the time I'd rather relax at home with my kitties!)

Point is- this month, like the year so far, knock on wood, has been chock full of smiles. I thought I'd share some of the highlights of the month so far. 

1. No matter what he says, my person LOVES my our cat Rusty... it always makes me smile seeing them love on each other...

2. I had a little boy (who I solely approached during show because he kept picking his wedgie and I thought is was hilarious) tell me "This was the best stage thing I ever saw!!" Gahh my heart!

3. I started a new job!! I'll be putting up more on this later, but basically I get to have a blast a couple nights a week, singing and dancing while tourists eat dinner. Drunk guests think I'm hilarious!

4. I finally bought my camera! :) Man, I love that thing! 

5. I started Insanity... I don't know if any of you have tried it but this workout program is very appropriately named! But- I'm officially halfway to my weight loss goal! I really wanted to make it all the way before the cruise but I'm going to celebrate my progress so far and keep thinking positively that I'll finish dropping these extra pounds.

 6. Got to celebrate my Broder's birthday!! Nothing says "you're another year older" like breakfast at Cracker Barrel and drinks at an Irish Pub!

I love us...

7. Thanks to my couponing efforts, I've been to the grocery store maybe a third as often! Actually... I kind of miss it. I jump at the chance to go to Publix when we run out of milk- I am so special!

8. We met our newest baby- Bentley! Just 2 weeks before we bring him home...

9. Finally- I just took the step over 50 followers! :) Just in this past month I went from maybe 8 to over 50. Sure it's a baby step in comparison to some other blogs out there- but this is my journey. I'm so glad you guys are following along and I could not be happier when I get comments from you all. You guys rock and thank you for making this month the most exciting of my blogging adventure.

Just because I like you guys so much, I decided to start giving back. I'm working on a little giveaway for next month, but for now I've added a new page to the blog- Freebies. So far, you can find the recipe cards I made a while back when I finally got around to organizing all my recipes! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do...

How's the month going for all of you? 

That post I was talking about...

Gahhhh!!! :)

Sorry it took me a few days to get around to posting this. As always, schedules are busy around here and let's be honest, I wanted to build up the anticipation! So what, pray tell, is the big news?!

Nope, no ring to speak of (Sorry Abuelita!) and no baby anywhere in the remotely near future (you're out of your damn mind if that's what you thought it was! Geesh!) No house, no move-

but it's big!

Actually, it's not. It's tiny now and will only ever get to about 24 pounds.

:)

Meet Bentley.

Yup! The person and I are the parents of a new baby Boston Terrier.Squuueeeeee!!! After 5 months of reading, and research, and searching, and weighing options- we found our perfect pup! It was such a challenge because we REALLY wanted to bring a dog into our little family but we had to make sure it was the right kind that would *hopefully* get along with the cats, both rescues one of which definitely went through something serious before she ended up with me. We'll get to bring him home the 2nd week of September, right when we get back from our vacation. We're busy as all hell getting ready for that but holy poot I cannot wait! 

How flipping cute is he?! With his one random spot! It may be considered an imperfection in the crazy breed world, but it was one of the things that made him perfect to us!

That's Bentley asleep on my lap and his two brothers scoping out the situation.

He looks so much tinier on daddy's leg compared to mine!

My person after we officially decided this little guy was the one for us... :) I can't quite decide which is cuter... It's the combination that really just makes me want to vomit from the adorableness.

Puppy's sleep- A LOT! We got to meet the puppies long enough to see how they interacted with each other, with things around them, and even when feeding with their mother. This was so helpful! We read Cesar Millan's book How to Raise the Perfect Dog and one of the first things he talks about is choosing the puppy with the right energy for you. He talks about how, though completely adorable, the puppy that is the first to run up to you and run around checking things out is more than likely (more than definitely is more like it) the high energy type that will possibly have behavioral issues and be much more difficult to train. These dogs will require excess amounts of training and for our first dog together, living in an apartment- high energy= probably not the direction we should be heading in. 

There will be time for that kind of craziness later on. :p 

One of the puppies was all over the place. He kept coming back to sit right between my legs but it was never for longer than a minute at a time. He was right back to running around and was even biting at my shirt. Thanks Cesar, for the heads up! Not our dog! The second was somewhere between the two but there was just something about the little pudgy puppy with the spot on his head that we fell in love with. He seemed to have his mother's calm, good nature. He'd wake up, interact with us for a few minutes, and go right back to his napping.

Yeah... we definitely picked the right puppy. 

It's one of those things, we just knew he was supposed to be ours.

:)

Picking a name took a very long list and a whole lot of back and forth. He actually mentioned Bentley first which was strange because I was JUST thinking of bringing up that name that same morning. 

Fate. It just fit and we both knew it.

Expect to see much, much more of this little Bentley guy come September when he finally comes home and turns the apartment upside down! That's when the real adventure begins!

Cannot wait.

Remind me to buy one of those Bissel Spot Cleaner things before September...

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DMB and a Window Shopping Spree...

Jam packed post today as I tackle what could've been 2 separate posts. Im being an over achiever. :)

First things first- get out your puke buckets kiddies, it's about to get mushy for a hot second!

A year ago today, the handsomest guy I know had an extra ticket to the Dave Matthews Band Concert in Tampa. Our first official date. When I think about it, I can still imagine how nervous I was and how ridiculous the butterflies in my stomach were when he would just put his hands on my waist.

I should also mention I was sick as poop that day! I almost passed out standing in the "Groo Pit" and had to chug down ridiculous amounts of water. But damn if I wasn't going on this flippin' date I still wanted to go on the date but was not overly excited about it. Luckily, the verge of death passed as soon as Dave took the stage. The night ended up being so incredible we joked about how impossible the first date was going to be to top. The past year has proven, time and time again, it's not impossible. He never fails to make me feel like the luckiest girl alive.

At the DMB Concert, 7/28/10, and then a year later at his sister Carrie's wedding, 6/11/11 

If that was too much mush for you, I highly recommend you steer clear of this blog come October when it's our actual 1 year anniversary. And yes- it did take until October for us to officially call ourselves official. To my knowledge, we were exclusive from the start but it doesn't count until they awkwardly ask you to be their girlfriend. :) The more awkward the better!

Now for the window shopping spree!

I can't believe it's time to pretend to spend money again already! Weeks go quick. But fake money is always there. Thank goodness. This week's window shopping spree should really just be called "Krystina could waste an afternoon on the Restoration Hardware site" seeing as that's where more than half of this comes from. I was fantasizing about not living in an apartment and actually having the money, space, oh and did I mention money? to go all out and have an incredible home. Blah blah home is where the heart is blah blah blah as long as you make it yours you don't need material things. Right, got it. Let's put all that aside for just a minute and indulge in these incredible things you will never find in my house. Oh but they'd look so nice!! Let me reiterate, last weeks list, some of those things were doable with a little saving. With this list- that is not even remotely true! A girl can fantasize.

1. Adorable cubby holes- Pottery Barn is a haven for all decorations that look old but are brand new. Yes, please, and thank you! I have no clue what I would keep in those tiny cubby holes, but does that even matter?

2. Old rustic looking shelves with ladder- Courtesy of Restoration Hardware, this is the sort of thing that you would consider unsafe if you came across the real thing in an actual abandoned shipyard. But if you charge me a lot of money for it, I'll want it. Point here being, I want it.

3. Cozy looking wingback bed- I want to wake up here, not get out of bed for hours on end, and finish many books here. That just looks delicious.

4. Door looking room divider- I assume it's obvious at this point that I'm amazing at making up names for products. I don't know why I love this but I think it would be happy in my make believe house.

5. Gi-freakin-normous trunk that's actually a desk-y office type thing- I'm sorry, how awesome is this?!  It makes no sense whatsoever but it's incredible. Restoration Hardware should also seriously reconsider renaming it, with my title. It's much more fitting.

6. Greatest outdoor furniture set known to man- I call it this referring to the entire package- fire pit and ocean front view included. Was that not part of the price? Strange. You need to really peruse all of the collection to get the whole wonderfulness of it, queen size daybed and all!

There you have it ladies and gentlemen- this weeks very luxurious and fanciful installment of my window shopping spree. It took a serious toll on my non-existent bottomless bank account. I'll have to work some make believe over time to get ready for next week.