Dressy Dress Dress...

So this is my wedding dress...Ooo la la -- there will be some edits to the design once the dress gets in.  Which brings me to the point of this post.  What is normal for arrival time of wedding dress and alterations?  I'm a little less than 5 months out from the wedding and ordered the dress probably between 4-6 months ago.  I would have liked to have had one fitting by this point and then explained description of desired changes to the design.  I'm not a bridezilla and I would never aggressively attack anything regarding this matter, I'm just curious.  It doesn't bother me, I think I have plenty of time for this to happen, well at least I hope so.

Now to the second matter of this post.  I am contemplating having a second dress for the wedding and not quite sure what I should go with.  Originally I wanted to do a fun flirty little number that matched my original concept for the bridesmaids, but now the bridesmaids dresses have changed, the ones I have chosen are much more sophisticated and I'm not quite sure that if I ordered a similar dress in a white/off white that it would necessarily be appropriate.  Also I don't want people assuming that I think I'm a princess or something because I have a second dress.  The only real reason I want to do a second dress is because I think it would be more fun to dance and enjoy myself in a shorter dress rather than the gown.  Although the gown is gorgeous and I love it, I will be wearing it for a good portion of the night.  Once all the main pictures and dances and cake cutting and all the exciting things have happened, that's when I wanted to change into the second dress.  Oh yikes, there's a lot to think about.  Boo!

PS...I'm still very confused about the wedding shoes.  I heard that you should buy your wedding shoes a good 6 months in advance to break them in, and per my post "wedding shoes" i'm not completely content with the purchase I have made with the intention of wearing them at the wedding.  They are not quite the royal blue I was looking for.  Any suggestions!?!? Although I'm pretty sure no one reads this thing...oh well - c'est la vie!

Teeth

I went out Saturday night for the first time in a very long time.  I am engaged and have no interest in meeting guys at all, I was looking to just enjoy a night out with some girls and to be honest it was really fun.  As I looked back the most curious thing happened:

I was compliment on my teeth! Twice!  By two different people!  In separate situations!

I mean you go out, you're engaged, you aren't looking to hook up or meet anyone, but also you aren't oppose to entertaining conversation or whatever the case might be with a male or female counterpart - its all irrelevant.  However you can almost always anticipate being hit on by at least one blind and unknowing gentleman.  Of course one of the first thing out of my mouth is, "I'm engaged!" and up pops my left hand with my engagement ring on it.  Normally anyone who hits on me tries to play it off as "Oh, I'm just being friendly" as interest soon turns to finding another victim!  This all again is somewhat irrelevant, other than the fact that being hit on is, well, expected.

The pick up lines are horrendous, they span from where are you from to "I'm not gunna lie I want to have sex with you?", which I'll get to the story in a minute.  But it was so curious to me, that 2 out of the numerous pick up lines were "You have really nice teeth!  They are so straight, and so white!"  These are people that I had never met before, had zero conversation with them prior to this point and they just approach me out of the blue with this line, that can I consider is a "one liner"  Either way, when this "line" is thrown at me I get this bewildered look on my face and then laugh and say oh they completely natural! Which they are, I'm not lying. One guy proceeded to say they were give to me by my mom, my dad, God and Crest whitening strips.  Ahem, excuse me, I don't use whitening strips a-thank you very much!  Anyway, so this happens early on in the evening and I don't really give it a second thought.  But not less than 2 hours later I get the same comment, almost exactly....AGAIN!!!  I was like dang, I must have some really nice teeth or something.  I mean I've seen nice, like Mike Myers has anyone else seen his teeth?  Are those real??  In all his movies you can tell its him under the disguise cause of those pearly whites! (sorry I got side tracked)

So my point is....wow....how original....and curious?!?


PS....back to the sex line I was talking about earlier...the most random story ever!
I was at this bar standing there waiting for my friends to leave an this guy approaches me with his friends.  And his puts out his hand for a shake and introduces himself as Jason Biggs.  I said oh I know a couple people with the last name Biggs - a couple my sister is friends with.  Either way he comes out with the line, "I'm not gunna lie, I'm trying to have sex with you"  I was like uh, ok no...I'm engaged and up pops my hand with the ring (how many times do I have to say this in one night?!?!).  Anyway this lady who is with him, a friend I can only assume, starts like mouthing to me "Jason Biggs, from American Pie!"  I was like what, no way, impossible doesn't even look like him, plus this guy was waaay over weight although those movies were from a while ago so who really knows.  So that's my story, whether it was actually Jason Biggs or not....wake up...even women who are not engaged don't respond to that kind of stuff...especially to D list celebrities who are trying to get laid. WEIRDO!! (side note: if that was not Jason Biggs, but actually an impersonator, my apologies to the original for these comments!)

Molly May von Mantle

Yes, that's her full name AKC registered :)  This has got to be one of the cutest pictures I have of her.  I know that Great Danes don't tend to be "cute" they are freaking huge dogs, but she is cute in this picture cause she's just a little puppy.  This was the day we brought her home and she is a little less than 7 weeks old and look how huge she is already! Wowza....she has doubled in size so I will post another picture of her in the near future.

BillyJoe has not been taking a liking to her because he has to sleep during the day and she wants to play, and normally I'm not home for that - so sowwie Billy.  He'll survive.  We hired a trainer to come in and work with us once a week for a couple of weeks to get her situated and listening to us.  We have had one session so far and Molly has responded pretty well, when i say "uh-uh" or "NO" she listens.  The one thing that sucks is that if she barks or nips we have to put her in sit position and hold her muzzle shut until she stop whining and submits completely.  Its hard to hold her while she whines for 15 minutes straight like you are killing her, even though she is just being a drama queen - but you know it works, she is realizing that what she is doing is not allowed and  she submits a lot faster!

I really enjoy having her around, she gives me some company when BillyJoe is at work 4/7 nights of the week and its just really nice having another body in the house :)

Love you Molls

What You Wear...

So I came to the conclusion the other day that what you wear can really affect your attitude during a workout.

There is no point, absolutely no point in wearing frumpy unappealing clothing during a workout.  Almost all the workout facilities I have been to in my life have had mirrors. I really don't get these concept, I mean I'm sure some good looking people want to stare at themselves all day, but I sure don't.  Its really depressing! 

The other day I was doing one of my workouts for the week, I had gone through pretty much all my clean clothes and was wearing green nike shorts with an orange Illinois T-Shirt, old and i mean old sneakers with black socks that I snuck from BillyJoe's drawer. This was the worst ensemble of clothing I have put together in quite some time.

Either way, doing lunges back and forth through the gym, basically staring straight ahead at myself in the large ceiling to floor mirrors was just ridiculously embarassing.  I looked horrible.  Not only did the clothes just not match in general, but I just looked plain fat!! So like I said I've come to the conclusion that its just really not worth going to the gym if you are wearing clothes that just don't make you look good.

So my decision is this....always look good when going to the gym...oh and buy new sneakers!!! :)

YAY, new sneaks

I Got Her!!!

Yes sir-ree-bob, I signed Christine Johnson as my wedding photographer!!! I am ecstatic :) We sat down last week and really crunched the numbers and finally just got things to work. I am literally on cloud 9. We are doing our engagement shoot this Thursday and I just cannot wait to see what she can do with two scrubs like us, we are a mess, but I have no doubt in my mind that the images will be spectacular!! Seriously if you have a second check out her website christinejohnsonphotography.com she is insanely good. I mean I have a particular style when it comes to photography, I know that a lot of people like the normal stuff with crisp clear images and re-touches here and there, but Christine's work is completely unaltered. There is no photoshopping there is no adding flares here and there, its the images she takes are what is printed out and she only photographs in film, which is astonishing to me. She kept telling me that film was easier than digital, but I don't buy it - she's just talented, period.

She is so good people fly her all over the world to do photo shoots for them. She told me she is headed to New York in a few weeks for a bat mitzvah, I mean c'mon!! What a job, I could only dream to do something like that.

As soon as the photos are in my hand I'm going to post my favorite one so you can see a little sample of her work. Ahhh I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself!!!

Wedding Shoes

So I have heard about this trend that brides use blue wedding shoes as their something blue for the wedding. Well I thought that was the cutest idea and I went out and purchased these bad boys. Although they look like Christian Louboutin's they are not...sadly. They are imitations however, but they still cost me a pretty penny. And to be quite honest I'm not completely sold on them at the moment.

I still have plenty of time to decide of course, just under 6 months til the wedding, but I still do need to make a decision at one point or another. Once the dress comes in and I go in for my first fitting, I'll bring these bad boys and see how they look with the ensemble! :)

The one other downfall of these shoes is this, they are like 4 inches in height and I'm already 5'10 naturally, which puts me at an even 6'2 for the wedding. BillyJoe is 6'0 and with dress shoes probably close to 6'2, but how weird would that be, being taller than your husband on your wedding day...hmm....still contemplating.

If you are reading this, which no one probably is - but if you are, vote and let me know what you think!! Thanks

Voskos Greek Yogurt

Umm....hello?!?! Why doesn't everyone eat this stuff....look at the nutrition facts -- HOLY COW!!! I mean 24 g of protein!??!

0 g of fat and its so creaming and thick (don't you dare say "that's what she said"!)

This has got to be some of the most beneficial stuff on the planet. Even Fage doesn't compare in protein content, its insane.

And like I said before...this stuff can literally make anything. On their website www.voskos.com they have tons of recipes. Add a little mayo, its mayo....add a little cream cheese, its cream cheese. Its the best stuff on earth -- in your face Snapple!! :)

Photographer

So finding a photographer has been very stressful. I am 6 months out (actually a little less) from the wedding day and I still have not booked a photographer. This is absolutely horrible.

My sister's photographer is my absolute favorite, her work is just above and beyond my expectations. I love photojournalist techniques and she tops the list. Unfortunately for me she also is way out of my price range/budget. I have reserved $3000 for photography, well more that's what my parents are willing to pay. And for full coverage of the wedding day her price is well over double that amount. What I can get for that price is basically photography for 4 hours. Oh man, I just cannot let her not shoot my wedding, I mean photography is like key when it comes to weddings, its the way you remember that special day! I'm meeting with her again on Thursday (tomorrow). We are going to discuss the budget again, options that we might have - how much or what I can bring to the table outside of the set budget from the parents. We will see where this goes.

You should totally check out her site though www.christinejohnsonphotography.com its insane! The images she catches of my niece are just phenomenal. I wish I could be a talented photographyer -- maybe she'll teach me ;) that would be cool.

PS....at least point I really don't have an alternative option when it comes to photographer. There are only a couple of other photographers that I'm even interested in, they book up very quickly and they are also almost as expensive and I'm sure they would not be as likely to help me out. We'll see how it works out and I will update on the status of the photographer soon :)

Getting Back on Track

So I was writing that last post and never finished up, but I decided to post it anyway - so I know it ends abruptly, but whatever...too tired to think about what I was trying to say next on that one haha.

But I wanted to post something new on here today. I have been working pretty hard recently with the workouts. Eating has been lackadaisical sadly, and I'm really trying to get back on track with that too. Last night I had pizza boo hiss...not good I know so horrible whether you are on a plan or not.

This morning however I feel very good about myself. I woke up at 6 am and I have been recently because of my new puppy Molly. She has to go to the bathroom like first thing in the morning so I always set my alarm for 6 am so I can let her out before she has an accident.

Anyway, Patty my trainer told me that if I want to burn fat that the best times to do cardio are either pre-breakfast or post workout. So I got up this morning right after letting Molly out I changed put on my running shoes and did a 4 mile run this morning in about 35-40 minutes :) Then I took Molly for a walk. Yippee for me!!! Then I ate a healthy breakfast...normally I would eat some egg whites and toast, but I ran out of eggs eek so to get some protein into my body after the workout this morning I decided to eat some Greek Yogurt w/ a little honey for sweetness and some granola (very little bit, normally I'm not supposed to eat granola) and a piece of flax seed toast with benacol and sugar free strawberry jam. So all in all it has been a really good morning for me other than the fact that I'm sitting in the office and I'm absolutely freezing!!!

I spoke with Patty during my last workout and we decided to pick it up a notch so I'll be working with her 3 days a week Tues, Thurs & Sat to get my a$$ in gear. I weighed myself the other day post workout and I was 158 which I'm pleased with :) for someone who is 5'10 that's not bad..although I'd prefer to be under 150 -- it'll happen, maybe ;)

I do want to post some pics of Molly up here as soon as I upload to my computer...she's the cutest and really well behaved when she is not acting like a puppy -- but I can't get mad at her after all she is only 8 weeks old! :-P

Update 2

Things are going slowly for me at the moment. Traveling weekends has been really hard. Being out of town and around my sister who is pregnant I'm tempted with candies and baked goods and fried foods practically every weekend. And I'm very submissive in that sense, yikes! Although I'm happy to announce I haven't gained any weight. So that's a good sign. I've been trying to work out as consistently as possible, even being out of town.

I almost always start my workout with 30-40 minutes on the treadmill. 5 minutes walking up hill level 7.0 to 9.0 at about 3.8-4.0 MPH. It gets your heart rate up and moving. Then I lower the incline back to 0 and increase the speed to about 6.2-6.4 MPH. I'm kind of sporadic about what I do during the 30 minutes but normally I'll keep the pace of 6.2-6.4 MPH and increase the incline every 10 minutes to an incline of 7-9 for about 2 minutes. I do this as an interval as many times as I can before I'm puttered out. Over time you should be able to push it farther and farther. Based on what people say about working out, this is good for your body and heart rate because you are not just doing a steady workout that your body can easily become accustomed to, you are actually pushing the limits and when your body is already at a 160-170 heart rate you then push it up to 180-200 and then back down again which will increase the calories burned during that workout. I end the work out walking up hill at an incline of about 5.0-7.0 for 5 minutes and then slow it down w/ no incline just to bring the heart rate down for another 5 minutes. What I think is great about these intervals is that you aren't constantly thinking man I have another 30 minutes, 20 minutes 15 minutes...its more like you are saying another 5 minutes til i increase and then you count down the 2 minutes and so on and so forth. Seems to make things go by a bit faster.

Normally after the treadmill I'll start working with my personal trainer. We'll do all legs one day and all arms another day. We always do moderately low weight with high reps. For instance on leg day we will do leg press starting with 45 lbs in addition to the machine 3 reps of 20 lifting the toes at the end. Sometimes if I'm having a difficult time with the weight she'll reduce it for the last set.

Tasty Chicken Salad

Thought I would post this recipe that I got off the food network the other day.  I made it for lunch yesterday and was very pleased...and the best part, it fits into my meal plan.

1 grilled chicken breast

1/4 chopped granny smith apple

1/4 c. halved red grapes

in a bowl combine the following:

1/2 c. greek non-fat yogurt

1 tsp.  light miracle whip

1 tsp dijon mustard

juice of 1/2 a lemon

(thyme for flavoring if you want - not necessary)

After the creamy sauce has been concocted you add the chicken and fruit and mix until well coated.  Its going to be really creamy.

Once you take a bite of the mixture, its just delicious.  Its funny I never realize this before but the greek yogurt just takes on the flavoring of whatever you put into it.  So it really does taste like miracle whip even though there is barely any in the mixture. 

One thing you should note though, if attempting to follow the meal plan regulations and make a tasty chicken salad:  salt is okay in  moderation, but its best to attempt to avoid it at all costs.  My fiance has been using something called No-Salt for a long time, I don't necessarily think its the best tasting substitution, but the salad does need a little kick.  I would either use the No-Salt (it is high in potassium) or something along the lines of paprika for a little kick.

Personal Training: First Update

So I started working with a personal trainer a couple weeks ago. Its been exactly 4 weeks actually. She is the instructor for the women's bootcamp class I take twice a week and she is insanely ripped. She use to compete as a sculpting model and I think I heard that she won the Orange County division at one point or another. Anyway, point being she's in ridiculous shape and I'm attempting to get in ridiculous shape myself :)

So, we started training 4 weeks ago twice a week for 30-40 min each session. We will do one day of upper body and one day of lower body per week. In addition to these sessions I do a one hour bootcamp session twice a week and attempt to go either running or swimming one time week, which I have like little to know individual motivation, so this happens infrequently.

2 weeks ago my trainer gave me something she calls a "menu". Its basically a meal plan for the day w/ options on what to eat. This is generally how it goes:

Meal 1 (breakfast): 4 egg whites, 1/3 cup old fashioned oats 1/3 cup mixed berries. This gets pretty boring, pretty fast, so she has provided one other option for breakfast w/ basically consists of the same ingredients except add a 1/4 of a banana blend on high on a blender until smooth with a little cinnamon and calorie free sweetener (I like to use Truvia) and cook in a pan - she said to add crushed nuts on the uncooked side (I love pecans) and then flip and cook until done. Its a little pancake, surprisinly tasty for something that has no flour or sugar.

Snack 1 (mid morning): she informed me that its essential to have a protein shake between meals with all snacks, so I follow the rules. With the protein shake you can have a low glycemic piece of fruit like an apple or greek nonfat yogurt w/ some berries. Honestly this is not too hard.

Meal 2 (lunch): 3 oz of some good lean protein, chicken, fish, etc. 1 cup of some delicious vegetables. and some sort of carbohydrate which may consist of 2 pieces of whole wheat low glycemic level bread, brown rice (brown rice pasta is awesome by the way - but don't forget to rinse it after boiling) or something of that nature. I normally make myself a can of tuna w/ a tsp or a bit more of Miracle Whip light spread on 2 pieces of bread and a side of spinach w/ a bit of olive oil and vinegar. Its filling.

Snack 2 (mid afternoon): Don't forgot the protein shake!!! and additional fruit or yogurt.

Meal 3 (dinner): Again lean protein, but a little more this time, same goes for the veggies and the carbs. The other day I made a really good meal, I was excited. I got some preseasoned Talbot (a white flakey fish) from Trader Joe's and pan seared it with a little bit of olive oil. boiled up about 1/3 cup of brown rice and a little side salad w/ olive oil, balsasmic vinegar and salt and pepper. It was honestly, delicious!

Snack 3 (optional or even consider it a dessert!): sugar free Jell-O, sugar free pudding or even something I find very tastey for some reason; a plain rice cake w/ all natural peanut butter spread on it! Yum-O.

Its definitely not easy to follow this, but I'm getting use to it. Last night my family went out to an Italian Restaurant, and being a swimmer my whole life I am dangerously addicted to pasta!! hello --- pasta party central!!! But being on this "plan" it is essential to opt out of the pasta options. But lucky for me I found a good alternative on the menu. A Greek salad w/ grilled chicken and grilled eggplant as a side dish.

Oh yeah and one must not forget to drink a TON of water. I have never in my life woken up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, but since drinking the amount of water necessarily to stay healthily(i might have just made that word up) hydrated, I get up on average twice a night to go.... pee. yikes! but its a good thing I suppose.

So it has been 1 month since I started the training sessions and 2 weeks since I started the meal plans and I stepped on the scale for the first time since my initial weigh in and......drum roll please....I have lost 4 lbs and on the best part is I'm not feeling flabby, my body is building muscle tone again yay!!!

So that's my update as of now, I will update again in the future. Maybe if I have the guts I will post my before and after pictures...and during if I remember to take them. ;)

Wedding Planning

So over the past couple of months my sister, mother and I have been attempting to work together to plan my wedding. The date has been chosen, YAY! April 24, 2010. I'm hoping that Arizona will be rather forgiving that weekend, I know it will be warm when the sun is still up, but once the sun has set and dinner hits the table it will be absolutely perfect weather (knock on wood).

Either way, the entire process has been rather stressful to be honest. The first major steps were to obviously pick a location, caterer and then find a dress.

Location: Living in the Valley of the Sun, its not easy to find the perfect location for wedding. Especially if you want an outdoor elegant event. I did my research, looking at all the top choices there were available in the Phoenix metro area. Once we had chosen a handful of top competitors, we went out to visit them. I was not pleased, to say the least. Castles, mansions, Tuscan Villas in the middle of strip malls, manufacturing plants, homes? I mean c'mon, that is so tacky. I found one location that I was semi-pleased with, it was outdoors and some what remote - but in the end they were too specific. One caterer had exclusive rights to the property and unfortunately for them, we were unimpressed. Regardless of all the disappointing venues in the area we were able to find one that stood out above all the rest. And that location, my friends, is my sister's future backyard. Located near the intersection of 56th St. and Camelback Rd. with roughly an acre of property (previous owner was a landscape architect) you can imagine what a gorgeous local this is. For those of you not from the Phoenix area, Camelback and 56th is like the epitome desirable areas/homes in the valley. The backyard is north facing which means we will have an awe inspiring view of Camelback Mtn., the central point of the city created solely by mother nature. Needless to say at this point, I am very pleased with our decision. Its obviously going to be a lot of work transforming a home's backyard into a wedding ceremony location as well as reception hall, but I have drive, dedication and oh yeah, my sister and mom to do it all for me! :)

Caterers: We actually have not come to a final decision on this particular part of the wedding planning yet. Its definitely very difficult. Looking from caterer to caterer, there is definitely a fine line of mediorce quality and amazing quality. We have found some amazing caterers, but in this day in age with this economy, when someone tells you, "No I'm sorry we will not negotiate on price, but to work within your budget we can use lower grade ingredients", I knod in their direction to acknowledge the fact that they muttered some syllables and laugh in my head, thinking who the hell does this person think they are? Everyone, and I mean everyone is desperate for work right now. No matter how high quality the food and service might be. People are not spending the same amount on weddings anymore therefore companies caterers etc need to negotiate. Luckily amazing caterers are a dime a dozen in this city, of which many are willing to negotiate. Needless to say the woman and catering company that said that to me are no longer in the running to cater my wedding.

The Dress: How stressful can choosing the dress of your dreams for the most important day of your life be? Ohhhhh not stressful at all some people say. Not for me, not for me. Okay so I went to this cute little boutique in Old Town Scottsdale, twice to try on dresses. They had a great little collection of dresses. But being the indecisive person I am, I thought to myself, I can't just go into one store and try on a couple dresses! So I made an appointment with the largest bridal shop in the city and took guess who? my sister and my mom. I never in my entire life, imagined trying on wedding dresses would be that horrifyingly stressful and emotional, in a bad way. If I have advice for anyone out there, avoid the large stores! They are so impersonal and they could give two shits about you and your special day, all they really really want is their bottom line, money. At one point in time I was very thirsty and I asked an attendant for a glass or bottle of water. Oh, there's a bubbler in the front of the store near the entrance - wow is all I have to say. But this was just the beginning. I was being shuffled in and out, next to a variety of different women, practically waiting in line to be able to show a dress to my family! I could not find a dress that I wanted. There were definitely gorgeous dresses, and ones that I liked, but I always wanted to alter it here or change this there. We discussed the options with the manager of the store. "Oh definitely we can do that for you no problem" she said. My mom being the hardass she is wanted to know direct from the person who would be altering the dress. Reluctantly the manager brought her in. "Impossible" she said. The manager of this store, literally was going to have us put $1000 down for a dress that would never in my wildest dreams end up looking like what I wanted it to look like. Are you kidding me? I broke down in tears 3 separate times at that store, that day and not because it was so magical I was trying on such a meaningful dress, but because it was stressful and heartbreaking and I felt like just another girl. That same day spontaneously, we returned to the small boutique I had originally been. They welcomed us in, they offered us waters, mimosas, champagne. We all sat down, I was the only one in the store. The owner of the boutique assisted me with the dresses. I tried on a handful of dresses that afternoon and just like that, we found the one. Measured, ordered, loved all in a matter of an hour. High quality service, period.

All in all, planning a wedding is stressful and I haven't even scraped the tip of the iceberg.

Bring it on, Let's do this thing!!!

Alarah

I'm sure in the future there will be many a more photos on here of my beautiful niece. She is insanely cute and I don't think it just me being bias. We went to Vegas a couple weekends ago and I snapped this randomly at the chocolate bar. It was just such a sweet little picture I had to share.

Zhang Jia Jie - China

Zhang Jia Jie, one of the most amazing places I have ever been in my life. Located about 8 hours (by train) south of the Yangtze river in the Hunan province of China. This is a picture of the famous peaks at the national forest that I took once we reached the top tourist area. Most people when they arrive take the lift up to the top of the peaks, which is about a 10-15 minutes ride. Our voyage to the top of the peaks was slightly different. We hiked the 3,000 steep steps, put in place hundreds of years ago to make it to the top, it took nearly 3 hours. The top of the peaks are 3 miles from the base. The "story" behind Zhang Jia Jie is that these peaks were at the bottom of the oceans millions of years ago and when the land separated all the water spilled out leaving the erect peaks stranded and useless. After reading an article on wikipedia.com the explanation of the standing peaks is constant erosion from winter freezes and summer thaws. Either way, this is an amazing location. Once we reached the top I stood in absolute aw staring out at the miles of peaks spread through this valley, amazed by the extensivenss of nature. I understand that China is not necessarily a desired travel destination for most western cultures, but if you go...may I suggest this location. And although hiking 3 miles directly up seems a little crazy and the 10 minute lift ride might be tempting, the hike is three quarters of the beauty and reaching the top is just the cherry on the sundae.

Arizona

Its that time of year again, right before the heat strikes the valley the warm weather and sunlight makes the whole yard blossom. I didn't even realize we had half the beautiful flowers that we have. Here's a new bud sun-kissed this afternoon.

Our house is located in an area that is very un-Arizona. Its populated by orange trees and luscious greenery. This is the orange tree in our backyard, unfortunately it's very small and only grows about 10 oranges a year, unlike our neighbors who can't give enough of them away.

Arizona is known for it's sunsets, some of the most beautiful in the US. I took this on SuperBowl Sunday at my sisters condo in downtown Phoenix.

About Me

Hi, I'm Kirsten. I was born in Abington, Pennsylvania and have lived in a variety of different places since then. After being born we moved to Taiwan fairly quickly and a few years later to Singapore. When I was four years old we transplanted back to the US in New Jersey. Four years after that we moved to Illinois where I stayed all the way through the end of college. Right after I graduated I drove across the country to move to Arizona. Currently I live in Scottsdale, Arizona.

While at the University of Illinois, I studied Speech Communications and Sociology. Needless to say, I do not use my degree in my day to day job. However, I learned so much in college that I would highly recommend going just for the life lessons. My senior year in high school I was recruited to be a swimmer. I remained a swimmer until my senior year in 2005. It was an amazing experience and I have so many amazing lifelong friendships that I attribute to that team. My 5th year senior year I student coached and loved every second of it. I was very sad to leave in 2006, but of course you can't stay a [college]kid forever.

Now, I work as a medical biller or you could consider me the billing department of Clear Vision Ophthalmology, since I'm the only one in the department. This is my brother in law's ophthalmology clinic. I also co-own and operate the optical center in the clinic, which has been a great learning experience; first it allows me to learn the management and intuitive skills to run my own business, and secondly it allows me to develop my interpersonal communication and "sales" skills (which I can always work on). Hopefully I will be able to use what I learn to develop a larger business of my own in the future.

I got engaged on December 25, 2008 to my amazing fiance BillyJoe (William Joseph). He works for the Phoenix Police Department as an officer. I can't really get into much detail due to the semi-public nature of this blog. Either way we met at the University of Illinois where we were both student athletes; I was a swimmer and he was a wrestler. After I moved to Phoenix in the spring 2006 we remained friends until the fall of 2007 when I returned to Chicago for a visit. We reunited while I was there and he decided that I was the "one". He gave up everything in Chicago to move to Phoenix to be with me. We purchased our first home in the old town Scottsdale area in October of 2008. It is a perfect little place for us to start our life together. I am currently planning our wedding, needless to say progress is slow. Tentatively scheduled for early 2010, possibly February or March, in Phoenix.

My entire immediate family lives in Phoenix. My sister and brother in law moved here originally, and gave birth to their daughter Alarah on May 21, 2007. She is the light of all our lives. My parents are snow birds and live in Phoenix during the gorgeous part of the year (September/October-April/May) and live in Illinois during the summer months when its just too unbearable in the Arizona heat. My grandmother and aunt(on my mother's side) are moving to Phoenix in about a month. They are leaving their home of 20+ years, Honolulu, Hawaii, to be closer to family. Luckily they were able to rent their home in Hawaii so they will always still have their getaway in paradise.

I try to stay as active as possible. It is more difficult than one can imagine. My work schedule is pretty normal M-F 9-5 or so, but BillyJoe's schedule is the exact opposite. It's not easy, but we make it work. We both joined an MMA gym near our home, where he trains and I do the women's program. Luckily the weather is normally very nice and we are able to get out for runs and hopefully swims in our pool in the backyard within the next couple of weeks as the weather warms up.

We want to get a dog for our home soon and would love some tips and suggestions for breeds etc. We have a couple stipulations including size: large, temperament: semi-calm etc. BillyJoe wants to get an English Mastiff or Great Dane, where I have always been fond of the English Bulldog. Either way I know once we do pick a dog we will love him/her and he/she will enjoy being apart of our life.

I created this blog because I have seen a lot of people starting them as a tool to keep people updated on their lives and activities. I know that facebook is the thing to do nowadays, but I've had a facebook profile since it started with just 7 universities as the "network". It's a great website, but I think this might allow my friends and family to have a better view of what's going on in my life, as long as I keep it updated!