Mike's 5 part Birthday Adventure

Mike is having quite the birthday month. I am excited that he has embraced my philosophy of a birthday month rather than just one day of celebration. Part 1 of Mike’s birthday month was dinner at the Jolly Rodger with my dad and Denice on Nov 7^th. Mike and I have been wanting to check out the Jolly Rodger for a few months now and we are glad we did. The prices are semi high, but we get tons of coupons in the mail so that helped bring it down. It was right on the water in Oceanside Harbor and the theme of the restaurant was really cool. We will go back for sure, but with a coupon! Denice got Mike Glee Cranium, which I am super excited to play. We just need to find some fellow Gleeks to play with. Oh I also want to point out that we Kon Mari’d the downstairs closet and garage on the 7^th. Mike and I had wanted to get to the downstairs closet and we finally just dove in. We took everything out and realized that I had been saving tons of empty boxes. When I was moving every year while in school, I found it was much easier to move the appliances in the boxes they came in and developed a habit of saving them. Now that we are more settled and expect to move less often, I am giving up on saving all those boxes and Styrofoam. We also moved some things to the garage, including the shelf that was in the closet. It made a lot more sense to us to keep the things we use the most (like the pet food and vacuum) neat and organized and easily accessible in the closet and the things we use less often (i.e. my chocolate fountain) to the garage shelf. So far we really like what we did and it is working out a lot better for us.

Part 2 was on Nov 8^th. Mike basically invited everyone over for a daylong celebration. Mike’s parents came in the morning for a few hours, but the bulk of the party was in the afternoon. It was pretty fun and Mike had a great time with all his friends. I was sick and taking Sudafed, so I was not drinking. There were tons of fun beers, so I decided to grab one of each and save them for later when I was feeling better. Well that was great in theory, but there was so much beer, that I ended up saving quite a bit more than I realized. I am well stocked for the next few months with fun and interesting flavors.

Part 3 was on Veteran’s Day. Since Mike had the day off, we were able to go out to dinner, which we usually cannot do because of his night classes. We went to Benihana, where the birthday coupon can only be used Mon-Thurs, since that was really the only day we could go. We were super hungry when we got there and I went a little crazy with happy hour appetizers. We had sushi, stuffed jalapeño poppers, and I think one other thing I can’t remember. We each got a 5 course dinner, which consisted of soup, salad, shrimp appetizer, dinner, ice cream and tea. By the time we got to dinner, I was stuffed! It was nice though because I took it home and had it for lunch the next day, which was delicious!

Part 4 was on Saturday, November 21^st. We went to Mike’s BBQ in Escondido with another birthday coupon. It was pretty tasty. I had fries with cheese and pulled pork, which was amazing and Mike had brisket. We would for sure go back, probably for my birthday month when we get another coupon.

Part 5 of Mike’s birthday month will be on Thanksgiving with my family. We tend to combine birthdays and since Mike is the only one with a birthday in November, he gets combined with Thanksgiving, which works for him because it is a holiday all about eating and he loves to eat.

I am hoping to have one more post for Thanksgiving then we leave for Israel on Dec 3^rd! We are so excited!

Adventures in changing my name

I have officially changed my name and it was not as easy as everyone says it is. Well it was not exactly difficult, but the amount of time I had to spend in various offices waiting was a little ridiculous. I started at the Social Security Office. The form was available online and the information was pretty simple. I figured I would just go first thing one morning because the appointments were too far out and my work schedule was a little hectic. I had to wait outside for about half an hour until it was my turn to go inside. Once inside, I was called almost immediately to check in. Basically someone reviewed my paperwork to make sure I was prepared so I would not waste my time. I appreciated that. It only took another 15 minutes or so until I was called and a few minutes later I was done. My new social security card would arrive in the mail in 2 weeks.

The DMV was not as simple. The form was not available online so I had to go in and hope I had all the right papers with me. Now, I have not been to a DMV since I was 16. I always renew by mail for my driver’s license and go to AAA for car registrations. To say the DMV was depressing is an understatement. When I arrived I looked around for forms. I asked one of the security guards where the forms were and he pointed me to a corner of trash. TRASH! There were no forms at all! I decided to get in line to ask since the security guard was less than helpful. When it was my turn, I told the man why I was there and he gave me a form. He said I could not get back in line until the form was complete. I complete the form, get back in line, and am given a number. Why could I not get my number when I got the form? I had more than enough time to complete my form while I waited. I should also mention that I had not eaten lunch and was starting to get very hungry. I waited and waited, walked around, sat down, used the disgustingly dirty bathroom, and waited some more. After 90 minutes of waiting, it was finally close to my turn. I was starting to feel light headed from the hunger and could not wait to get out of there! Finally, I was called! I walked up to the station I was assigned to and handed over my papers. After clicking her keyboard for a few minutes, that was it. She punched a hole in my old driver’s license, handed me my temporary paper license and told me to go get my picture taken. This is only the second DMV picture I have ever taken. It came out ok, but it is not my best picture. I just hope I can renew online next time so I do not have to go back to the DMV for another 12 years at least!

Another little part of this adventure, after the DMV I swung by Costco and could not buy beer because there was a hole in the expiration date of my license and I put the paper I got at the DMV in the glove box because that’s where all my DMV papers are.

Now I can start on the long list of credit cards, accounts, bank, and various other places that I need to update my name. Hopefully it is a little easier than the DMV.

Post Wedding Update

Once again, I feel as if I have fallen behind in my blogging. I am going to do my best to catch up and share some of the highlights since the wedding.

In mid August I did a professional development workshop about strength based leadership using the Gallup strengths test. I was amazed by the results of the test, how much they defined who I was, and how different everyone else in the room was. For me, it was great to be able identify my strengths and learn how to apply them at work. I won’t go into it too much here, but I am an Achiever, Relator, Arranger, Maximizer, and Developer. Basically, I am a high achiever (not surprising), I relate well to different types of people, I can take a problem and figure it out by thinking about it from various angles, Good enough is not good enough (I always need to have the best and highest quality), and I bring out the best in people. There is so much more to it, but in a nutshell and for the sake of how long I think this blog will be, I will stop there.

Another thing I did this month for work was attend Birthright Fellows outside of Chicago. I learned a lot about the Birthright program, where it is going, and how I can be the best staff possible. I attended with 2 other people from San Diego and it was great getting to know them better and meet people who are as passionate about Birthright as I am. Overall, it was an insanely fast paced, exhausting conference (5 days, 8am-11pm every day), but I learned so much and I am so grateful I was selected to be a Birthright Fellow. I know the skills I learned will help me not just in my work with Birthright, but my work at Hillel as well.

Mike and I have done some fun Padres events the past few weeks. The first was a members only beerfest. It was amazing! They opened up all the carts of craft breweries for unlimited pours. There was tons of food and games to play as well. Mike and I ended up meeting someone who went to San Marcos High (class of 1992 so a tad older), but it was fun to talk about SMHS to a fellow Knight and so random! We also got free entry to the Eddy Vodka Lounge right next to the Western Metal supply building. We had these HUGE seats and got free beer. The seats were really cozy, but from that angle you cannot see the screen at all. It made us realize how much we love our seats and how much we love all the random games and things that go on the screen. Later that week we went to a game with Steve and Ashley and got free shirts. It was nice to get to know Ashley a little bit better and to celebrate Steve’s birthday. We also went to a game where “Ferrell Takes the Field” played a special advance screening. Mike’s dad and grandma joined us for the game, but left before the movie. Steve, Mike, and I really enjoyed the movie. It was awesome to see Will Ferrell introduce it and to get to see it a week before it premiered on HBO. We felt very exclusive. Obviously, we renewed our season tickets for next year because we have had so much fun this season with it! Just a few more games, one of which we will get to see the Lego Movie afterwards. We have seen it before, but it is a good movie, so we will enjoy it again.

Mike’s grandma has been in town (from England!) for the wedding and we have had some fun activities with her. On Labor Day we went to a BBQ with all of Mike’s family. His dad made delicious smoked meats (turkey, brisket, and brats) and we all ate way too much. Last Sunday we went for a sail for Mike’s grandma’s birthday, which was pretty fun. We saw seals and a few dolphins and lots of birds. I always enjoy sailing days and enjoying the outdoors. Today we saw grandma for the last time before she flies back to England. I heard talks of her coming back next Christmas, so we have that to look forward to. Mike and I also have been talking about maybe going out to the UK next summer, but it all depends on finances and vacation time. We will see.

In other big news, Mike successfully defended his Master’s Thesis last week! There are still a few tweaks he needs to make to the written part before he turns it in for publication, but this is the final thing! With processing and all that, he should be a Master at the end of the semester! Very exciting, and it also means his school days will be a little shorter and a little less stressful. He still has his night classes, but will be able to have more flexibility during the day for homework, exercise, and other things.

In other Mike news, we had quite the motorcycle adventure today. So last night Mike stopped at Costco in San Marcos for gas after school and after filling up, his motorcycle would not start. His first thought was call AAA for a jump start. Well, did you know that motorcycle road side assistance is extra? We did not so we were not covered and it takes 7 days to process so we could not even add it that moment. It is only $37/year, which we were really kicking ourselves over last night. We figured Denice could go help give him a jump so I spent about an hour looking online about how to jump a motorcycle from a car. It is not as simple as it would seem. Well while I was doing that, Mike was trying to find the battery of the motorcycle. Did you know that motorcycles need a special tool to remove the seat to get to the battery? We did not either. (When we eventually removed the seat, the tools needed where there...great place for them right?) Another method for starting a dead motorcycle is to get a rolling start and kick it into gear. Since the parking lot was cleared out at this point, Mike tried (and failed) this method. I started calling for tow quotes. It is between $65-$85 just to hook the bike up to the tow and $6-$8/mile. That would make a tow home about $150. I looked up buying a ramp to get the motorcycle into the truck, and that was not possible because most places required the ramp to be ordered and they were super expensive and we were not even sure the motorcycle would fit in the truck. By 10pm Mike just wanted to come home, so I went and picked him up and we left the motorcycle at Costco. The next morning it was pouring rain! The motorcycle place he gets his bike serviced at in Vista did not open until 10am, so we waited in hopes they could come pick it up. Well, they said no, and to get it towed and if it is a problem covered by the warranty, they will reimburse $75 for the tow, but if the problem is not covered by the warranty then we were on the hook for the tow. So after a lot of thought, I looked up motorcycle places near Costco in San Marcos. I found one that was 1.1 miles away, and the man on the phone was more helpful than anyone else we talked to all morning. He said they usually have a driver, but since it was pouring rain, they called him off, so they could not help us get the bike to them. So in an effort to save $80ish dollars, Mike pushed the bike 1.1 miles in the rain while I followed behind in prius with my flashers on so cars would slow down for him. We made it, and the guys there were amazing! Turns out Honda batteries only last from 1-3 years so it was just time for a new one. He waived the diagnostic fee of $95 and gave us 25% off the battery just because. Mike and I decided that we will start getting the motorcycle serviced there instead of the place in Vista because of how helpful and nice they were today. It was quite the saga, but it has a happy ending! And the rain let up so Mike won’t have to drive home on the motorcycle in the rain.

Last piece of update is about our Kon Mari method. One Tuesday night a few weeks ago, Mike decided it was time to Kon Mari the kitchen. The kitchen had been driving us crazy because we knew it was super inefficient, but we also knew it would take a few hours to organize via the Kon Mari method. I did not want to spend Tuesday night organizing, but Mike insisted. We took out all of the pots, pans, appliances, and pantry items. We found a great way to organize the plastic containers with a large box that can easily pull out of the cabinet. Now nothing gets lost in the back. We also rearranged the towels, potholders, and found a really great way to utilize our giant pantry cabinets without letting things “get lost” in the back. We took almost all the appliances off the counter (except the ones used daily like my beloved Keurig). We actually only got rid of a handful of things, but the space is amazing because it is organized so much better! We did not do the dishes or cups because we thought they were fine how they were, but now that the rest of the kitchen is happy, we need to go back and find a better way with some of the dishes and cups. We mostly just have too many cups that we do not use unless we have the whole family over. We also want to redo the spice cabinet. The office has also gotten pretty bad because that has been the “holding area” for a lot of wedding things. In general, the office in where the majority of my sentimental things are, so it was always going to be the last room we did, but now we have added so many things to it, I think we need to set aside an entire day, maybe two, to go through it. I think we will break it down to make it not so overwhelming. The other place that has kind of become a “dumping ground” is the garage. We have been saving TONS of boxes because they are so great for Kon Mari, but now the garage is over filled with recycling and empty boxes. Mike wants to go through the garage last because at that point we will be able to get rid of all our boxes because none will have purpose.

Pretty big update, and hopefully I will get into better habits and post more often so they are not such long reads for you all! Thanks for reading all the way to the end J

The Wedding and the events leading up to it!

This is going to be all about the wedding and the events leading up to the wedding. I am sure I am going to forget things because so much happened, but this is my attempt to document it all.

Crystal was the first of my family to arrive from out of town. She flew in on Tuesday July 21^st and we had a pretty low key day. They were pretty exhausted from the flight and we kind of just needed to get things set up and organized for their long stay. On Wednesday we stopped by the wedding boat before the Padres vs Giants game. I think Crystal was happy to see the boat before everyone else and it was great to kind of show her around and figure out where we were going to put things like the guest book and cake. Levi LOVED jumping on the bed in one of the states rooms, which was pretty funny because Presidents used to sleep on that bed and he was just laughing and jumping like it was no big deal. After the boat visit, we went to Petco Park. It was by far the hottest day at the stadium I have ever experienced. Our seats are in the sun and we were melting. My dad and Denice were at the game too, but their seats were a few sections over so they came to join us. Levi fell asleep immediately, which was too bad because it was his first Padres baseball game. Despite the heat, we enjoyed the time together and even got Way Back Sunglasses as a giveaway.

On Thursday July 23^rd my mom, Ellen, and Elizabeth arrived, so the party could officially start. I went to Legoland with Crystal, Morgan, Levi, Parker, my dad, and Denice. It had been quite awhile since I had been to Legoland and it was very fun to go with Levi and Parker. They could only ride a few rides, but we had so much fun “racing” the very slow kiddie boats (I won because I was the first one on and the last one off meaning I got the most ride time, but if you ask Morgan he won because he passed us all). Levi especially loved the zebra made out of Legos. We also went to the aquarium, which was new for me. It is not Lego fish, in case you were wondering. I am very grateful to Jen, Roy, and Amy who provided us with enough free tickets for the whole family to enjoy the day. After Legoland, Elizabeth came over and stayed with us the rest of the trip. It was so fun to get to spend so much time with her because I have not seen her in person in 4 years! I cannot believe she is 15 and she is like a mini Ellen, which was so weird because I kept thinking Ellen was in the house but it was Elizabeth talking, not Ellen.

Anyways, I had to work Friday morning because there were a few meetings I had to attend, but I was able to leave a little early. Ariel, Thomas, Amelia, and Brielle arrived and we had a beach picnic with almost my entire family. It has been a very long time since all those people were together. We played in the water and watched Parker eat sand. It was good to have a nice relaxing visit.

Saturday was the beginning of the pre wedding festivities. Mike had left Friday night to start his bachelor party (he went to a bar, a beer tour, Padres game, and fancy downtown hotel, and sailing, ask him if you want more details). For my bachelorette party, I decided to keep it simple so more people could come celebrate with me. Janelle arranged a limo to take me and a few of my girl friends wine tasting in Temecula. Elizabeth was able to come even though she is under age and Crystal and Ariel were able to join us as well even though they do not drink, so it was a good way to make sure my entire bridal party was included. I was so happy that so many people could come and share my last weekend before the wedding with me.

Sunday was my bridal shower. It was mostly family that came and it was wonderful to have all the important ladies in my life in the same room. We had a tea party theme and it was perfect. Gina made amazing desserts (as usual) and Janelle and her mom found beautiful dishes, tea pots, cups, and décor to fit the theme. I am extremely lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life that love me enough to have a fancy hat tea party with me. Oh and I forgot to mention the super fun hat that Ellen and Elizabeth made for me! It was a perfect addition to my outfit. Janelle really went above and beyond to make the weekend perfect.

On Monday I left for a 3 day work conference in Simi Valley. It is one of my favorite work conferences so even with the wedding right around the corner I did not want to miss it. Everyone there was kind of shocked that I was getting married in less than a week and I was at the conference, but there really wasn’t anything for me to do wedding wise and I did not want to spend vacation days doing nothing. Crystal and family, Ariel and family, and my dad and Denice went camping and my mom took Ellen and Elizabeth on an adventure in LA while I was away. I returned Wednesday to an empty house (Mike was at school) and it was weirdly quiet. I was happy when everyone returned.

On Thursday, Janelle and I had a nice day together. I finally got to see her parents’ new house in Valley Center and eat at the Yellow Deli. The Yellow Deli was delicious! I was overwhelmed by how amazing the chicken sandwich was. After lunch, we went to see Trainwreck, which I highly recommend. It was funny but I also shed a few tears. After that, Janelle’s cousin Kelly gave us a spray tan. My tan lines were REALLY bad from the day I wore a tank top at Legoland, so she evened it out a lot, which made me less self conscious about my tan lines the day of the wedding. It is not something I see myself doing regularly, but I am happy I did it because I was glowing (in a good way).

On Friday I went to Sea World with Crystal, Morgan, Levi, Parker, Ariel, Thomas, Amelia, Brielle, and Elizabeth. Aaron was nice enough to give us free tickets and we made the most of the most of it! We started at my favorite exhibit, the Wild Arctic then went over to the penguins. We got to see the Dolphin show and somehow Crystal talked me into sitting in the splash zone with her and Elizabeth. I hate the splash zone and being soaked with salt water, so I am really not sure how she convinced me. Poor Levi got a surprise soaking and could not stop crying. I was done after about 4 splashes and went towards the exit to avoid further splashing. We went to the Shamu show next, which has gotten pretty lame since Blashfish. I do not really remember the order of the rest of the day, but we ended up seeing most of the animals and my favorite show, Cirque de la Mer. I waited with Levi and Parker while Crystal, Morgan, and Elizabeth rode Manta. I had been on the ride many times and the kids were sleeping so I just walked around a bit until Parker woke up and I found a bench to let him crawl on. The last thing I did with them was help the kids take a picture with Shamu. It turned out great! I left early so I could go home and start getting my things ready for the weekend and everyone else stayed for a few more hours.

On Saturday we had a beautiful day at the zoo, hosted by Mike’s parents. It was the first time we had both sides of the family and the entire wedding party together. I am very grateful to Mike’s parents for hosting such a wonderful day. We had a bus tour, a wonderful lunch together, and the rest of the day to explore the zoo. Everyone kind of broke off after lunch and I ended up with Mike, Janelle, my dad, and Denice. We saw all kinds of fun animals; it was a really good day to be at the zoo! We skipped the pandas though because the line was so long. It was one of the panda’s birthdays so there was a big promo for the exhibit. After the zoo, Mike and I went to check in to our hotel. We had an awful lot of random wedding things that needed to be brought upstairs. We found a free parking space less than a block from the hotel so we were able to save $40 on valet parking, which is the only option the hotel has for parking. We met up with Devin and Audrey for dinner at Karl Strauss. Devin treated us that night, which was very nice of him. After dinner, Devin and Mike went to spend some time together and I went to paint my nails. I had been trying to find the time for 2 days to paint my nails, but it got done before the wedding so that is all that mattered.

Sunday was the big day! I woke up earlier than I meant to, but it was ok. I had my leftover burger for breakfast (why order food when I had perfectly good leftovers right?) and Aaron and Gina were the first to arrive to our room. Aaron ironed his shirt and while he was waiting for the other guys to arrive. Once Devin and Steven got there, Ashley chauffeured them around so the girls could have the hotel room. I am grateful Ashley was there to help! Gina arranged for a friend of hers from work to do my makeup and I am grateful she did that. We all finished our hair and makeup pretty early, but did not want to get in our dresses yet. All the bridesmaids ended up doing their hair in some sort of braid, which was not planned, but I really liked it. Well, we should have gotten dressed sooner because it took us all a lot longer than expected to each use the bathroom then change. We ended up leaving about 10 minutes later than planned, so it was not terrible. Crystal drove us all over to Harbor Island where we met for pictures. I am really glad Mike was there early and remembered the picture list so he was able to get a big chunk of the pictures done before I even arrived. The first look photo was really fun and I am very glad we did that instead of the first time seeing each other being when I was walking down the aisle. I think it was a lot more personal and more fun. Anyways, we finished up pictures and I got on the boat with the bridesmaids to set out a few things. Janelle asked for a snack, which was a really good idea, so we had fruit and crackers. Levi ate almost all the crackers. It is a good thing he is so cute, otherwise he would need to share more! Our coordinator at Hornblower, Jennifer, asked me what song I had prepped to walk out to. Well that was one detail I had not thought of so I told her to find Steven since he made the playlist. I figured Steven was capable of picking a good song. Well he picked a great song…but Amelia had a melt down when a few flowers flew out of her basket into the ocean and the song ended. Amelia was screaming, nothing was helping and we needed her to move away from the stairs so I could get by. Amelia was so excited to be flower girl and to walk with her cousin Levi, so it was pretty sad it did not all go as practiced, but now we have a good story to tell at her wedding. Well in all this commotion, the song ended and Steven was not prepared with a second song. And that is how my walk down the aisle song became “kryptonite” by 3 doors down. I honestly think the whole thing is super comical and it made me laugh which meant I wasn’t crying. So good job Steven! The ceremony was great, the appetizers were great, lunch was great, the speeches were great. Everything was perfect. The Hornblower staff did a wonderful job and we could not have asked for more. After we got off the boat, everyone lined up with the ribbon wands Ellen made. It was such a fun send off and such a good idea Crystal came up with and Ellen executed! Mike’s mom arranged a horse drawn carriage ride for us from the boat to the hotel. I felt like a celebrity from all the attention we were getting! People were honking and waving and taking photos. It was all quite fun. When we arrived at the hotel, the after party was already in full swing! I am really glad Janelle suggested that we have an after party because I did not get enough time to talk to everyone on the boat! Around 7:30 things were winding down and I was pretty tired, so we went back to our room to decide what we wanted for dinner. With all the rich food, I just wanted a sandwich so we walked to nearest grocery store and got a sandwich, chips, and beer. It was a nice quiet evening to ourselves. The next morning, we had breakfast at Snooze in Del Mar. It was excellent! I for sure want to go back there sometime soon! It was by far the best breakfast place I have been to in awhile. After that, we went home. Sammy and Levi were very excited to see us. Mike had to go to school that evening so it was back to normal after a very eventful few weeks. By Tuesday night, everyone was gone and it was very weird to be in such a quiet house again.

The 2 questions I have been getting the most after the wedding is “does it feel different?” and “when are you changing your name?” First, it does not really feel that different. We are still getting used to saying “husband” and “wife” but Mike has taken upon himself to practice by calling me “wife” constantly. Example, “what do you want for dinner wife?” Second, I am planning to change my name. My new name will be Wendy Wave Bryer McCreary (Wave Bryer will be my middle name). I am not huge on hyphenated names, so that was not really a thought for me at all. As some of you know, and many of you do not, name changes are not instant! I keep forgetting to bring the paper with me to work to get our marriage certificate (the county recorder is less than half a mile from my office in San Marcos). Once I have the marriage certificate, I have to go to the social security office (on the other side of San Marcos) and the DMV (which is never fun). I have actually not been to the DMV since I got my driver’s license. They keep letting me renew by mail with my picture from when I was 15. I am also annoyed because I just renewed my passport in February and I am going to have to pay $55 for a new one with my new name! I have a work trip to Chicago in a week and a half, so I am for sure going to wait until after that since the plane tickets are booked under “Bryer”, but I am on the fence about if I should do it before our trip to Israel or after. Part of me says wait until after because I do not want to mess up the registration or passport info that I already turned it, but the other part of me is like, people get married and change their names all the time so it shouldn’t be that hard.

Anywho, this is the longest blog I have ever written, so thanks for reading all the way to the end! I hope to write another blog this week or next about everything we have been up to since the wedding!

Silly Sammy Gets Stung by a Bee

Last Thursday I found out Sammy is allergic to bees. We were out for a walk, like we do every afternoon when I bent down to tie my shoe. We were next to a big patch of ice plant which was full of bees. Sammy has jumped through this ice plant several times before without problem so I did not think too much of it. We were crossing the street, about two blocks from home, when he stopped in the middle of the street to chew on his paw. I had to drag him out of the street to the corner. I tried to figure out what was wrong. He was crying and I figured something was in his paw because he was chewing on it. I tried to get him to walk home but he would not put any weight on his front right paw and was trying to walk on only 3 legs. I picked him up and finished the walk home. When we got home I tried to look at his paw, but he was not having it. I figured I would let him rest and see how he was doing. He hobbled over to the living room on 3 paws and started throwing up. I grabbed my phone to call the vet and she told me to come over right away. Poor Sammy couldn’t move so I carried him to the car. He started panting really hard and his eyes were turning glassy. I was so scared, and got us to the vet as quickly as possible.

When we got to the vet she examined him and gave him a shot of something to reduce the swelling. His face was puffy and his paws were swollen. Sammy received an IV drip and a few other medications and the swelling started to go down. The vet is pretty sure he swallowed the stinger by accident which is what caused such a big reaction. After about 20 minutes of fluids, he was finally starting to feel better. He was able to walk around on all 4 legs again. The vet gave us meds that he needs to take for the next 2 weeks and she gave us a prescription for a dog epi pen, which I found out is the same as a human epi pen, only smaller. He was so mopey the rest of the evening and I was still worried about him. He was defiantly better, but he was not his old Sammy self.

We brought Sammy down to Mike’s parents the next day so he could see his friend Peaches and we could keep an eye on him. You would never have guessed anything was wrong with him at this point! He was running around, jumping, and saying hi to all the people in the house. I was very happy to see him so upbeat after such a traumatic day. Honestly I think I was more freaked out than he was. This was my first dog emergency and I am so grateful I have a vet I was able to call who was able to see him right away. Sammy is doing much better. Just a few more days of meds and of course no more walks by bees!

KonMari Step 2: Books

This past weekend Mike and I continued our tidying journey and completed step 2 of the KonMari method. Step 2 is all about books. For me, books were pretty easy. I have been through them recently and I really do not have that many. I still followed the method and took everything off the shelf, held it and decided if it brought me joy or not. If you are brought joy by just looking at the book on the shelf, then you should keep it, even if you do not think you will read it again. I love that about this method, I get to keep things that make me happy even if they are not super useful. I ended up getting rid of a decent size stack of books and cleaning and organizing my shelves better. Mike ended up getting rid of almost 3 shelves worth of books. He has way more books than I do because he used to go to the library book sales and get a giant bag for $1. It was pretty easy for him to part with titles he read once and felt done with and helped him decide which books and authors he wants to continue to keep and read more of. Step 2, books, only took us a few hours and now we can move on to step 3, papers.

Mike had some work to do in his lab over the weekend, so I decided to continue KonMari without him. Rather than go to step 3, papers, I decided to skip ahead a little bit. Step 4 is miscellany, and has several sub categories. It is easily the longest section. I decided to do one part of step 4, skin care products and make up. I chose to get to this step sooner because every time I walked out of my beautifully organized closet, I walked into my cluttered, disorganized bathroom. It was driving me crazy and was defiantly not bringing me any joy. So I took everything out from under the sink, the drawers, and the cabinet and organized it. Since switching to Melaleuca products, there were just so many things I never saw myself going back to use. I had a huge bag of trash and a box of things that are still useful to someone. We were able to completely clear off the counter (aside from soap and electric tooth brushes) and have everything organized in a much better way. I also ended up going through all of my nail polish, the laundry room, and under the kitchen sink. It is amazing how many things we accumulated that we did not need, would not use, and no longer brought joy. I now feel so much better about my closet/bathroom area.

Crystal, Morgan, Levi, and Parker arrive in one week and I am super excited to see them! We have some fun activities planned, like Levi’s first Padres game (we are teaching him who his favorite team is), beach day with the entire family, visiting with Ariel and her family, and pre-wedding activities. Because they are coming to town soon, and the wedding is so close, we are putting a pause to KonMari and will pick it back up after they leave. So far, we have gotten rid of 4 trash bags of clothes, 5 boxes of books, 2 boxes of random things for Good Will, 2 full recycle bins, and 2 full trash cans. I also have several boxes of things for Ariel. I randomly found my “unsharpened pencil collection” from my childhood. Yes I know it is a weird thing to collect, and no, it no longer brings me joy, so I am ready to part with it. I figured Thomas would get some good use out of it since he teaches 4^th grade. Ariel’s pile consists of many things like that. I am really glad I am able to give joy to someone else with some of the random things that have followed me around over the years.

Fourth of July Weekend

Mike and I had a great 4^th of July weekend. The city of Oceanside has fireworks on July 3^rd and for the past two years we have been out of town. We had no idea if they were visible from our house or not, but the park they were lighting them from was only 5 miles away. When 9pm rolled around, we went to the backyard. We could see the really high ones, but the lower ones were blocked by trees so we decided to walk up the street. There is a small park that is slightly higher up than our backyard. There were 2 other groups in the park and from there we could see the fireworks pretty well. And now we know that we can see the fireworks from our house.

On July 4^th we went to Steve and Jamie’s house for a BBQ. It is always fun to hang out with them and we had lots of delicious food. I made two types of cookies (chocolate chip and chocolate peanut butter chip) to share. We went home before the fireworks started because I wanted to be off the road before the drunk people got on the road. I read in the newspaper that more car accidents that result in death happen on the 4^th of July than any other holiday in America and that when the 4^th falls on a Saturday, the accident rate goes up by 20%. We were not really able to see any of the fireworks from the surrounding cities from our house, but we could hear them!

homemade cookies

On July 5^th we finished step 1 of the KonMari method of tidying. Step 1 involves clothes (including shoes and accessories). I am now obsessed with KonMari and cannot wait to KonMari the rest of the house! My closet has never brought me so much joy. I can see all of my clothes easily, everything is super organized, and we were able to get rid of 4 trash bags full of clothes! Basically the idea is you take out every single piece of clothing from your drawers and ask yourself “does this bring me joy”. If the answer is no, you let it go. This part sounds weird, but I swear it works, if you feel like you cannot get rid of the piece of clothing for some reason (you never wore it, someone gave it to you and you don’t want to hurt their feelings, etc), you thank the item before letting it go. For example, I gave up a few things I used to really like but do not really fit me well anymore and said “thank you for bringing me joy during college” or “thank you for bringing me joy when so and so gave you to me”. At first I felt weird talking to my clothes, but it really did help me let go of things I really do not need anymore. She also says you should store everything vertically. You do not want your shirts to get squished and forgotten on the bottom. I felt weird storing my socks vertically, but after I did it, I was absolutely amazed. I can literally see every pair of socks I own at one time (which is far too many socks) and it is so cool! Next up is books. If any of you need help tidying up or have trouble organizing or letting go of useless things, you have to read this book. I read it in a few hours over 3 days, and it is a huge perspective shift. One thing I love about it is you are not forced to get rid of everything. You just get rid of things that do not bring you joy. The idea is that everything in your house should bring you joy or serve a specific purpose.

my shirts

must read book!

my socks

We also finished the final season of Sons of Anarchy this weekend. I won’t go into too much detail, but I am fairly happy with the way it wrapped up. It is a very intense show, and the final season was far more gruesome than anything else on cable, but it is also extremely thought provoking. If I was still in grad school I would love to write an analysis of Sons of Anarchy.

Today Mike and I went to get our marriage license from the County Recorder. The place is less than half a mile from CSUSM so it was super easy for us to take a break during the day and go over. The paperwork is pretty easy, but they do like to charge you for each step of the way. You have to pay for the license, if you mess it up (by folding, wrinkling, or writing outside your box) you have to pay for a new one, you have to pay for the marriage certificate too once all the paperwork is turned in after the wedding. And I need the marriage certificate to change my name. All I can say is everyone better stay in their box when they sign the thing!

I have decided to blog

I have decided to start a blog. Well re-start. As you can see I have 13 posts from 2010 when I was in a gender studies class that required weekly blog posts about encountering gender in our daily lives. I am not entirely sure what I am going to write about, but I know that I want to write more. I had a professor in grad school who assigned weekly writing assignments. He did not care what we wrote about, he just cared about the act of writing. Like any activity, if you want to be good at it, you need to practice, and I feel like my writing abilities are not as sharp as they were several years ago. I go back every now and then and read my Master’s thesis and I marvel at the fact that I wrote that. Hence, I now have a blog.

My current obsession of the moment is a book called “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo. Anyone who knows my family, knows that my dad is a “borderline hoarder”. If he ever read this, I am sure he will protest and tell the story of how his step father never let him keep anything and how hurt he is that he does not have every childhood possession, but one step into his house and you will see what I mean. He is not dirty, he is just cluttered and there are boxes and boxes of stuff shoved in every corner of the house. My biggest fear in life is that my house will look like his one day, but even with that fear, I have trouble getting rid of things. I recognize this problem, but I did not know how to solve it. I needed a mindset change. Then I stumbled upon this book. It is pretty short, I read about half of it yesterday, but it is exactly what I need. The stories she tells of past clients speak to me; it is as if she knows my story exactly. Mike already finished the book and he has been ancy to start applying her method to our home. I am half way through the book and I cannot wait to finish it so I can work with Mike to apply this method to our home. She says it will take six months to really complete the tidying process, so our goal is to complete tidying by the end of the year.

Besides, tidying, my wedding is fast approaching. I am currently not feeling the pressure and stress that everyone seems to think I should. I have one friend who said she is not surprised I am so calm because that is just how I am, but it is weird that she is the only one saying that. I like to plan things out so I won’t feel stress with last minute details. I am excited and ready for the day to be here!

I feel like this is a solid first post. I do not want to put too much pressure on myself for a first post. I cannot wait to see what exciting things I have to write about!