you don't scare me

happy halloween eve! anyone have big plans? eric and i will be staying in and handing out candy to trick-o-treaters tomorrow night... this will be my first year at the house so i'm pretty excited... no one seems to be having a party, which i'm totally fine with because it's one less thing i have to worry about... and with the wedding less than 21 days away - i didn't need to be worrying about finding a costume to wear... there's always next year! :)

i have to say, i'm not digging this new blogger layout/template - one used to be able to upload more than one pic at a time and now, it's back to the old-fashioned way? WTF! or maybe it's just me (but i doubt it)...

eric and i watched 'slumdog millionaire' last night - what an awesome movie! i highly recommend it and the music was excellent... we may try and go see 'paranormal activity' tonight but will see how crowded the theaters will be after work (i'm in the mood for something terrifying)... :)

let's see, what else... my boss has been out sick all week, leaving me in charge and helping the other two designers... i just hope and pray that the "sick" bug stays away from me and if not, that i get it before the wedding...

the wedding plans are coming along as best as they can... we are meeting w/the coordinator tomorrow to figure out which option is going to work with our final count (136) - we can either go w/the tent and expect to pay $5-6k extra OR see if we can squeeze everyone into the Inn and on the 3-sided porch... each has it's plusses/minuses (esp. money) so that's what we need to figure out... more wedding updates can be found here... :)

food/exercise - not great but not terrible... totally slacked on the workouts this week but HAVE to make it priority starting today... i'm not worried about fitting into my dress or anything, but i'm just feeling lazy and know that's not good for me... eric is interested in trying out bally's for a week, so if he likes it - then we can do the morning thing together... sweet! :)

guess that's all for now - will try and catch-up with everyone this weekend...

happy friday!

31 more days... is that right?

busy, busy, busy - that's all i have to say... i have a feeling it will be like this until november 22, so please bear with me... i DID get in a great 45-minute walk in today - perfect weather here in DC so i took advantage and hit the streets! yay me! :)

anyway, there's much to do but feel free to check-out pics from my bachelorette party and bridal shower... had an awesome weekend! :)

happy monday...

how many apples does it take to make a pie? one!

boy, the weather sure has turned here in maryland - it was so chilly last night when i got home, i had to turn-on the heat! course it's in the 70s right now, but i know yesterday's trend is just the beginning... need to make a point and get outside for my workout today... :)

had a busy weekend - went to an arts/craft show with my mom on saturday... baskets and beaded jewelry seems to the most popular thing this year, and at one stand - i found THE most perfect bracelet for the wedding... i spoke with the woman who made it and was like, "can you customize a bracelet for me?" and she said, "of course! what would you like?"... after i told her the colors i wanted (choc brown, light blue, ivory, and champagne) - she took my info, measured my wrist, and said she'd send me a photo of when she starts beading to make sure i approve... i was so happy and can't wait to see the real thing in person! :)



after the show, we headed to jo-ann fabrics to search for something to cover my favor-jars... someone at the craft show used a fabric that was almost identical to my invitations, but we searched high and low and couldn't find it in the store... i opted for a blue pattern and a brown pattern and will use both... i also got a nice fall wreath for the house, some flowers for the dining room, and a cute, felt "happy harvest" hanging for our front door... the house has officially been decorated (wish i could do more but the cats would destroy everything)...



on sunday, eric and i did a bunch of stuff around the house - put-up new blinds in the LR and finally put-together the shelves for above our tv stand... it's slowly looking like a real room now - especially since i framed a bunch of photos yesterday and put them up... there are still a few things that i'd like to tackle before this weekend, but won't kill myself they don't happen... two of my girlfriends from college are coming in for my bachelorette party and bridal shower, so i'm just feeling the need to stuff that we've been putting off... always the case, right?

i had off yesterday (columbus day) and did a few errands, as well as paid a visit to the chiropractor... i made an appointment for right before the wedding too, including a massage, and i can't wait... i also had lunch w/a girlfriend at panera bread and ran back up to my mom's to help her with a few things around the house... i was back home by 5:30, did a few things around the house, and then called it a day! wish all weekends could be 3-days long!

here's a pic of the giant apple i saw on sunday at a local market - i'm not kidding when i said it was bigger than a cantaloupe... i would love to see how they grow on a tree! wow! :)



happy monday... :)

TGIF

happy friday, everyone! :-)

would you want to be 12 again?

how many of you remember making these barrettes in elementary school? i must've had 20 pairs, plus made them for my friends - never used flowers though, always had beads at the end... funny how both good AND bad things get recycled thru the years... ;)

i started using my WW app yesterday, it's pretty easy-to-use though i had to go online to log-in my weight (not pretty!)... i also skipped the gym yesterday because my allergies were horrible and i felt like crap, but today is a new day! eric was asking me about bally's and how long their guest-pass is good for - i would SO love for him to join so we could go together... and being it's less than 5 mins away from our house, going in the morning would be great... :)

my shoulder is still hurting... bah!

just another wedding has been updated - we went for tuxes last night, how exciting! :)

we watched a tad of 'glee' last night - thought it was really funny... eric then goes, "what channel is this on? fox? i can't watch anything on fox"... not sure what that meant...

i'm wearing a new pair of black boots today - always hate the beginning since they're not broken-in yet... ouch!

that's all for now - time to get caught-up with what you guys have been up too... :)

happy thursday...

get out of my bag!

i have the worst luck with bags! i was so excited to get my new vera bag but when i opened the box sunday night, it was the wrong size! i'm such an idiot... but thankfully, i was able to exchange it last night, at a store near my house, and changed my mind on the pattern... i now have the one i initially liked, so all is well in bag-land again... it's nice to have something that's roomier and can fit all my daily to/from work stuff (i.e. shoes, lunch, purse, personal ogranizer, etc.)... norman seemed to enjoy the bag too... :-)

my shoulder is still bugging me so i may call the doctor and see if i can get an appointment for next week - i have off on monday (columbus day) and already have a chiropractor appt.... might as well make it a 'health' day... i should probably run some other errands and take advantage of the free day - this wedding stuff is really time-consuming! ;-)

my weekend out with my sister was good, minus the argument that my mom and i got into at the florist... not even worth discussing and it was silly - perhaps i'm just as stubborn as she is, but unwilling to admit it... ha... the weather was great and leaves have already started to turn (because of the high elevation) so it was very pretty... ate like crap too, nothing new there... :-(

i downloaded the WW app on my iphone - haven't really used it yet, but maybe soon...

haven't been keeping up with the new shows but am DVRing 'how i met your mother' and 'the bing bang theory' because they are very funny shows... always good for a good laugh...

eric's been gone at a conference so we haven't seen each other since friday - it's always weird to be in the house without him so i'm happy he'll be back later today... :-)

happy tuesday...

need a nap

i'm ready to go home - been up since 5:30, here since 7:15, and have a long night ahead of me since my mom and i are heading to my sister's for the weekend... it was annual report photography day and even though i'm not working on it this year, i was offer my help and assistance to the other designer (since this is her first)... things went well but there's always a lot of waiting around and/or trying to find someone when they're late... maybe our boss will be nice and say, "go home early" but i doubt it... :-(

it will be nice to get away and possibly do some wedding stuff w/the family - my nieces are uber-excited about everything... i will also be meeting the newest member of the family - calvin, the long-haired tabby... we may do some shopping or craft shows but mainly, i'm just looking for some R&R... this week has worn me out for sure!

my knee is healing okay - i've been loading it up with neosporin and keeping it covered as best i can... can't wait to see how this baby scabs-up... my hands/chin are fine and you can barely tell anything happened so at least that's good... as for my other issue - my right shoulder has been bugging the crap out of me - i didn't pull anything and can move it around w/no problem, but when i told my mom she said, "it's probably tendinitis since you carry your bag on that arm, i have the same thing"... great, just what i need! :(

speaking of bags, i treated myself to a new vera bag this week (last big purchase as a single woman!)... i can't wait to get it because i'm not happy with the one i have now plus cream isn't really a fall/winter color... isn't she pretty? ;)



well, that's all i have for today... need to go update the wedding blog now (hard work having two)... have a great weekend! :)

happy friday...

Clutz

So on my walk home from the metro yesterday, I managed to fall on the sidewalk not even a block from the house... I scraped both knees, both palms, and my chin - what am I? Six? I hobbled home and didn't let the tears fall til I walked thru the door - Eric didn't know what was going on... He took care of me though - cut off my pantyhose, washed the wound, slathered it with neosporin, and bandaged it up... I feel like an idiot and am thankful this didn't happen the week of my wedding... I'd be hobbling down the aisle!

Needless to say, I hurt everywhere and managed to last until 1:00 at work... Am headed home to take some pain pills, have some soup, and park my ass on the couch...

Happy tuesday - not! :-(

Sent from my iPhone

hoping at least ONE of our teams wins today

what a busy and productive weekend, gotta love those! just had homemade white, chicken chili for dinner (thank you, mr. crockpot) and some multi-grain bread (thank you, mr. bread machine)... this soup will definitely be a staple this fall/winter - so easy to make! also did the usual grocery shopping, laundry, and cleaning today - AND watched 2 football games... i just love sundays at home, can't beat it... :)

yesterday was very busy - had an appt. with the florist in the morning to discuss wedding ideas... since i'm trying to keep things as simple as possible - i'm hoping that will work in my favor and since my matron of honor's hubby delivers for them, i'm also hoping they will give me a better estimate... from there, it was home to clean and then eric and i took a load of stuff to the dump - love getting rid of things esp. when it involves a huge, lazy boy chair that took-up room in the basement... eric has also been busy working on his office - it's been in dissarray since i moved in really and now it's finally taking shape (still needs painted though)... :)

last night, we went over to a friend's house for drinks/dinner - had a blast and even got to try-out the new beatles rockband... it was really cool and have to admit - i was kicking a** on the drums... this was our first time playing and loved it so much, it's been added to our target regsitry - why not! ;)

well, that's it for me - hope you had a great weekend!

happy sunday...

fall = pumpkin spice latte

sorry.

as you can imagine, things in jodi-land are not like they used to be and why i decided to plan a wedding in less than 3 months is beyond me... it's not even that it's stressful, it's just busy between appointments, meetings and finally getting the invitations out (on monday)... so far, people love them so that makes me happy and considering i spent 10+ hours printing, cutting, and stuffing on sunday - they better! ha! anyway, i'll keep the wedding-talk here to a minimum but check out my other blog if you want to hear more... ;)

in other news - eric was asked to speak and/or attend a security conference in ireland THIS NOVEMBER... he said they'll be paying for the whole thing and if i wanted to go along, the only thing needed would be airfare... i've never been to ireland and am really torn because one part of me would love to go, but is that being totally stupid 3-weeks before the wedding? i don't know all the details (how long, etc.) so that's the newest thing on my mind these days... guess i could look at it as a pre-honeymoon... ;)

i've been going to the gym again pretty regularly, so that's good news... i really should start pilates/yoga again because it would help me stay less-stressed, but haven't researched any local classes... i know i'd be more apt to go if i was paying for something, over doing a dvd in my basement but then again - i really need to be saving money right now so...

we've started to watch a few shows this season - got eric into biggest loser last week but this week, not so much... curb your enthusiasm was pretty funny though i've never watched it before and am anxious to see what they do with the whole seinfeld thing... i'm also interested in flash forward, which starts tonight - anything that is similar to lost peaks my interest... are there any shows that you are watching and/or excited about this season?

guess that's all for now - hope everyone is doing well... :)

happy thursday...

hello, i'm jodi

yes, i'm alive - i just can't seem to find the time anymore to keep this blog updated... sorry about that but between vacation, coming back to work and being slammed, AND this whole wedding thing - there just aren't enough minutes in the day... i guess many of you feel the same way - i can't imagine what it must be like to have children because time would be even more valuable... either way, i will try my best to update as often as i can but forgive me if i disappear for days at a time... ;)

vacation at the beach was good - though the weather was less than desirable on a few days, we were still able to relax and enjoy ourselves... by mid-week, the campground was empty so it was like we had the whole park to ourselves... most days, it was so windy on the beach that i laid in this hole that someone had kindly dug before we arrived - it worked out really well... the meals were good, the s'mores were good, the drinking was good, and sleeping in the back of the bigger truck was good too - no, make that awesome! compared to eric's previous truck, this one was like sleeping in a cadillac! i've posted some pics below... :)

once we got back, it was back to wedding stuff... i found a dress on the saturday we got back and all i can say is that it has everything i've been looking for AND at an incredible price... i had narrowed it down to two so when i put them on again and walked around - the one that i ended up picking brought tears to my eyes... so i knew then and there it was THE one and yes, even my mom liked it (she tended to like every dress that i didn't, and vice versa)... so the dress is now living at my mom's since i need to get some alterations done plus, i don't want eric trying to take a peak (though i doubt he would)... now it's onto details about the reception and about a hundred other things - like getting the invitations out! jesus! :-o

so that's it for me - work has been really busy and we're one designer down this week so it's been rather hectic... i have two meeting later this morning BUT will be going to the gym - i have to get serious about working out or i'll never looked 'toned' for the wedding... i decided that i'm not going to try and lose 20 pounds, in 2-months, because just working on my upper body is all i need really... since my dress is strapless, that is my biggest concern right now... everything else can be handle via spanx... ;)

happy thursday!

view of our campsite - pretty spacious...



hello, mr. crab...



me in the hole i was talking about...



eric making breakfast one morning...



my favorite hat right now --> out of coffee - life is crap!

Ahhhh

We've had a mix of good and bad weather so far - it poured the night we got here so I'm thankful that our bed is in the back of the truck. Beach was great yesterday - saw porpoises jumping out of the water! :) Today, it's been cool and cloudy so we ran a few errands (beer and food) and Eric's in the process of making a fire so we'll enjoy reading for a while. :) Happy Monday...



Sent from my iPhone

Cereal? Please!

We've had rain every day so far... Let's hope the weather improves! At least we have lots of food and drink! ;-)



Sent from my iPhone

so anyway

ugh, so sorry i haven't updated in a while... between work and the wedding, my life has just been crazy... AND eric and i leave for our annual camping trip tomorrow and are PRAYING that the hurricane doesn't cause too much rain/damage (at least i'll have some books, magazines, and my iphone)... i'm looking forward to getting away but am kind of stressed since we haven't picked a reception site yet and will need too rather quickly after we get home next weekend... once that happens, then it will be time to do the invites and get those in the mail as soon as possible - not giving people much time but the day was only confirmed this week... either way, i know everything will work out, it's just rather hectic right now... you can check out my other blog for more details... :)

we've set a date >> saturday, november 21, 2009

so i should be able to blog from the beach next week, if i feel the need too... i find myself using the iphone for lots of stuff and have been enjoying all the free apps - we've tried scrabble and love it! it's been most helpful when responding to emails, etc. and still can't believe i waited this long to get one... what was i thinking?!?!

well, i have a few things to wrap-up here then it's off to dress appt. #3...

have a great weekend and i'll talk to you soon, promise! :)

testing

just seeing if this works... cool! :)

Sent from my iPhone

well hello there

oh, how i LOVE my iphone... not sure why i waited so long but considered AT&T gets NO service in the metro, that's one problem i have to deal with... i used to have verizon but luckily sometime this fall - they will be working on having more carriers in the tunnels so i opted to go ahead and buy one now... yea, it's the most i've paid for a phone but i've been really good lately (no more weekly target visits) and thought it was time to treat myself... anyway, i haven't downloaded any apps yet but will sit down this weekend and see what's out there - anyone have apps they really love? :)

things have been crazy at work - my boss is on vacation and i had to work on some rather important web stuff today... it wasn't going well at one point and i felt so helpless (i believe a few tears were shed) - not knowing and understanding something really gets me down, but i did my best... hopefully things will still be functioning when i get into work tomorrow...

wedding stuff is going, as good as can be expected... i made another dress appt. for sunday, and will try to get one more in before we go on vacation next week... we spoke to the pastor on monday night so that part is in the works - reception sites are still being considered but there's not much i can do until we nail down a date... we did call two of eric's brothers to request his nephews to be in the wedding, the 13-year old will be with my 2 nieces and the 4-year old twins will be the ring bearers... how cute! :)

exercise could be better, i won't lie... i went to the gym monday but not tuesday or today (because of work) and was happy eric suggested we go play frisbee after work tonight... he also grabbed dinner, since he knew i had a horrible day - what else could a girl ask for? :)

anyone fans of that show 'californication'? we've been watching it (via the xbox and netflix) and love it... that david duchovany plays ones, twisted f*ck...

anyway, time to unwind a bit then hit the hay...

happy hump day...

huh

so i hopped on the scale yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to see that i lost a few pounds (instead of gaining)... i was down almost another pound this morning so i'm saying 161 for right now... i lost track of the last challenge i was doing and yes, i stuck to the green monster every morning (even while on vacay) but don't think i did my part re: exercise... but no worries... i was back at the gym yesterday and will be creating a new workout plan esp. for the arms since those are what i'm most concerned about for the wedding... i'm also planning NOT to go hog-wild and try to lose 20 pounds because you know what - i will gain probably half of it back when it's over... and because of the time-frame, i don't have the option of having several fittings either so i may just have to buy something off-the-rack, have it altered once and be done with it! :)

speaking of wedding, my weekend is filling up fast... i won't bore you with the details since you can click on the new link in the sidebar and read to your heart's content... my mom and i are meeting my sister and two nieces in frederick tomorrow and i'll be having my first wedding dress try-on session at 1:00... it happened so fast so i haven't had time to really think about it but yes, i'm excited... i've already sent the owner some ideas, so she knows what i'm going towards, as well as my size/shape... i have no idea what their prices are so this just may turn out to be something where i just see what looks good on me and what doesn't... wish me luck!

sunday seems to be my only free day this weekend, and even that isn't so "free" since we have some good friends coming over with their kids for dinner... i hope the weather is nice so we can grill outside... my friend will also be dropping off his tix for the steelers/skins pre-season game that eric & i will be going too next weekend... as usual, his team won last night and mine didn't... maybe i need to become a steelers fan 100%... ;)

well, it's off to get something to eat (leftover homemade, tomato and basil soup) and then to the gym... have a lovely weekend...

TGIF!

my new blog

check it out --> just another wedding

:)

finding my way back

hello everyone... i can't believe it's been almost two weeks since i posted - between my vacation and coming back to an extremely busy office, i haven't had a chance to sit down... i also haven't caught-up on any blogs so i apologize for that, and hoped i haven't missed anything too exciting... since i don't want to bore you guys with too many details, i'll just give you a brief recap of what i've been up too and share some pics... :)

• we haven't made any progress on the wedding besides i bought 2 books (the green bride and planning a green wedding), bought 2 magazines at the store this morning, and signed up for a new blog... when it's set-up and running - i'll share it with you, of course... i also need to get my ring re-sized and have to call a few places this week - i just don't want to part with it! :(
  
  
• the depeche mode concert was awesome! it was my first time having lawn seats and we could see and hear perfectly... the best part of the night was buying 2 soft pretzels and 2 beers for $35... awesome...
  
  
• my vacation to NC (with mom) was good - it was really hot and i got a bit too much sun on the first day so i tried to lay low for the rest of the trip... at one point, we were standing in the ocean and my mom said, "you aren't wearing your ring, are you?"... i just had to laugh... the best part of the trip - besides playing w/her dog that was half great dane and basset hound - was going to the shrimp man and buying fresh seafood off the boat for $4/pound... these things were massive!

• work has been extremely busy - my coworker took her vacation this past week and all the stuff that she didn't finish, fell into my lap... i don't think i got to what i was suppsed to be working on until thursday afternoon and there's more to do tomorrow - i just hope it calms down soon...
  

• this weekend has been VERY busy - friday night i went to happy hour with some old coworkers... saturday, we did a lot of yard work, got my haircut, did some cleaning, laundry, and then we took the bike up to see my brother... today, we went to the nats game and had a great time! we drank, we ate, and it was VERY hot - just glad to be home in the a/c finally...
  

• sadly, i've exercised once since coming back from vacation and as for eating, well - let's just say it hasn't been perfect... i don't think i've gained much but i've certainly haven't lost anything either... on a good note - the fridge is full of healthy stuff and i'm happy to be going back to the green monster tomorrow...:)

guess that's all i have for now - hope you're all doing well and i promise to get caught-up soon... enjoy the pics! :)

depeche mode still rocks...



me on a giant sand-turtle...



my first soft-shell crab samich...



our first nats game and they won!



and my first half-smoke from ben's chili bowl...



the national cathedral - so beautiful...

yup, it's still there

thanks for all the well-wishes and congratulations... i'm still in a daze (having some issues with sleeping too, wonder why) but am extremely happy, and honestly - quite giddy... i keep looking down to make sure i'm not dreaming and yup, it's still there - pretty breathtaking... :)

3 months after meeting eric (back in april 2005), we were going to pittsburgh for the weekend (which also happened to be around my bday)... on the way, the snow began to fall and then for some stupid reason i said, "my sister doesn't live far from here, we should stop by and surprise them"... the snow was piling up pretty fast and yet there we were - in his little chevy S10 pickup, charging up hills, sliding all over the place, and having trouble seeing the road... we stayed at my sister's for like 15-minutes tops and then hit the road again, only to be faced with 1 open lane on the highway and snow coming straight at us... cars were spinning-out in the median, traffic was crawling, and i was a mess - but he was steady as a rock and said everything would be okay... i sat there crying at times, with my eyes closed, and he just keep talking to me and trying to make me laugh... by the time we got to morgantown, wv - the snow had finally stopped... when we got out of the car to get something to eat, i think i bent down and faked kissed the ground - i couldn't have been more happy to see concrete... by the time we made it to pittsburgh - it was pretty late so we didn't get to meet rigel and austin until morning... his brother had his hands full, to say the least, so eric and i took turns holding and feeding them... at one point, eric had them and he began singing to them - that was the moment that i knew he was the man i was going to marry... i have always wanted to get married and have children and seeing this, well - it was like icing on the cake for me... it was sort of like seeing into the future, if that makes any sense... :)

fast-forward to sunday night (4.5 years later)... we went out to dinner for eric's birthday - he had mentioned that he could go for some seafood, so i suggested this place mccormick and schmick's... it wasn't that crowded so the service was good and we had a nice, corner booth - i had salmon stuffed with crab, shrimp, and brie (yes, it was yummy) and some wine... i gave him his smoochy-noise birthday card and one from the cats (signed, of course), and as i was putting them into my purse - i turned and noticed the ring, in the box, on the table... he goes, "how did i do?" and i think i said, "are you kidding me?!" and just stared at it... sort of like - is this really happening, is that really sitting on the table, did he really just do that? and then he goes, "well, are you going to put it on?" and i said, "aren't YOU going to put it on me?" so he did and i was crying because it was so beautiful... then he asked me to marry him, so i jumped up and said yes, and we kissed, and then lived happily-ever-after... okay, we're still working on the last part but everything else is accurate... :)

after things settled down - we had some champagne and dessert (on behalf of the manager), and then headed straight to my mom's house... she was thrilled, of course, and was anxious to start calling my relatives... we also stopped by my oldest friend's mike's house (on the notion that i needed to get our depeche mode tickets) and ended up staying for a few hours, drinking, and talking... they were thrilled too since every time i saw them, i got a lecture on why 'it' hadn't happened yet... anyway, it was a totally unexpected evening but one that i will never forget... I LOVE YOU DARLIN! :)

needless to say, yesterday was a blur - between the lack of sleep, a terrible headache (which i still have remnants of) - i can't tell you how many people emailed and called... i haven't had this much attention EVER, so it's weird and cool at the same time... my other close friend stopped by last night to get a glimpse of the ring in person (which she approved) and told eric, "it's about damn time"... :)

tonight is the depeche mode concert (can i get a HELL YEA) and then my mom and i are leaving for NC bright & early tomorrow morning... i'm not sure what kind of internet service my cousin will have but i will post, if i can, and if not - i'll talk to you when i get back next week... thanks again for all the well-wishes... so does this mean i'll have to start a new blog? oh, how exciting! i can't wait! :)

happy tuesday...