Dang, I've been quiet lately?

What I've been up to:

• Put a bid in on a new house and they accepted our offer
• Put our current house on the market
• Pulled out (for a valid reason!) on a contingency on our buyer's contract and took our current house off the market for now
• Now we're still looking for another house and are going to try selling our house "by owner", so we'll see how that goes....
• Have been training for our annual hometown 5k (have been working on getting back in shape for awhile now, and so far, so good)
• A bunch of stuff has been going on at work, but I won't go there
• Have been trying to "go through" some things so I can feel a little more relaxed...you know, when you have so much going on and you let things slide and get behind on some of the dumbest stuff, you don't feel 'normal' again until you catch up with some things and get rid of some stuff? I'm about 2 weeks behind on reading our newspapers and have magazines stacking up, so I'm working my way through those and trying to enjoy the summer weather sitting outside on the patio furniture and reading. I've started going through my recipe pile, too--you know, recipes I cut out or bookmark, thinking, oooh that sounds good I'm going to try that, and then they end up overtaking a kitchen drawer, etc. I've found a few keepers and a few I just threw away. I tried "Shrimp & Glitz"'s Tomato Pie recipe the other day and, YUM. Hubby is a meat-eater and said I should add some meat next time (which I plan to do tonight), but really its just so good with out it. Kudos, girl!
• I've also been on a quest to "get healthy". I don't think I've really talked about this on here, but I've been struggling with symptoms for the past 10+ years. I'm getting to the point in my life where I'm hoping to have kids soon, so I just want to get this straightened out and figured out before then. I mean honestly, I've been 'ick' for so long it just seems normal to me anymore. I was taught to be a trooper, too, so I really don't go around complaining about how I don't feel good and say I can't do anything. I just carry on as usual. But anyway, I finally switched doctors because I was tired of my doctor not listening to me, being arrogant and mis-diagnosing me. Its bad, too, because my parents both go to him and he about killed my mom, no joke. Actually, he sorta did, they had to 'pound on her chest' as she says. It started off with my leg and he said it was nothing, that it was probably from wearing heels (turned out to be hereditary neuropathy), then I started having heart palpipations and he said I had tachycardia (a heart arrthymia where your heart beats way too fast sometimes) and sent me to a heart specialist and the heart specialist said he didn't think it was tachycardia at all, it was something else (which I can't pronounce, let alone spell) and that I shouldn't have to worry about it or treat it unless I started having other symptoms. So then about a year passes and I don't have any heart palpipations but then I start having a few here and there. So I go see another doctor and she says I need to start taking vitamins, so I do, and they literally make me throw up. So then someone says you should try taking gluten-free vitamins. So I do (gummy variety, too, by the way..yum), and since then I haven't have any heart palpipations or gotten sick with them and I've started looking/feeling a little better. So I started doing my own little research and I come across how malnutrition can cause heart palpipations and how that can be a sign of celiac disease, among other things (because you are consuming something that your body is intolerant of so its not letting your body absorb the nutrients/vitamins it needs). So I've been researching celiac disease and gluten intolerance quite a bit lately, and turns out many of the symptoms I've been experiencing are symptoms of celiac disease. I have another doctor's appointment coming up soon, and we're going to start off with an allergy test. I do hope I do not have celiac disease, because it would mean I would have to give up many of my favorite foods and it can cause infertility, miscarriages and intestinal cancer. But if I do have it, I would be more than willing to give up my favorite foods if it means I could be or at least feel healthier. But who knows, I could just be allergic to something really simple and that's what is causing all of this to happen? Very excited to get this finally figured out! 
 

Wow, way longer post than I intended, folks!

.::Sunday Social ::.

What is your all-time favorite song?

 Well, for the LONGEST time (coming from childhood, folks) it was "Superstar" by the Carpenters. They are my first favorite band and all-time favorite band. (Seriously, check out "A Song for You"). Lately, I've been listening to The Civil Wars "Poison and Wine" a lot, and I have a lot of love for alt-rock and rock songs--songs mostly from my high school and early-college days. Oh, and I've been listening to Miranda Lambert's "House that Built Me" a lot lately, too.

What is your favorite singer/band?

See above! +Belle and Sebastian, Third Eye Blind, Ryan Adams (not Bryan!), Audioslave, Matchbox 20, Jason Mraz....

What is your theme song/song that best describes your life?

 "I want it all" by Terri Clark hah.

What songs put you in a good mood?

Semi-Precious Weapons-"Sticky with Champagne"; Third Eye Blind-"Losing a Whole Year" (though I wish I had an edited version to listen to; Ashley Tisdale-"It's Alright, it's Ok"; Sublime-"What I Got"; Jason Mraz-"You and I Both" Jason Mraz-"The Remedy"--and a host of others...

What is your favorite road-trip music?

 Eve 6, Third Eye Blind, Matchbox 20, Something Corporate, Seals and Croft, the Doors..

What song are you embarrassed to admit you love?

 I'm a closet Britney Spears fan. And Ashley Tisdale. Pretty much any song. Its sad, I know.

 

Sunday Social

Yay! I've been waiting for a Sunday linky-doo!

Favorite movie of all time?

Can I pick just one? Well no, no I can't. And I bet neither can you! Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Catch and Release; This Christmas; Blades of Glory; Fireproof; Love Actually....

Favorite movie quote?

Ah...beats me, lol.

Best movie to watch for a girls night in?

Catch and Release? lol or Legally Blonde or Sex and the City or something like that.

 
Best breakup movie?

 I have to say it again! Catch and Release! Even though its not really a break-up movie in the normal sense--but it is really! 

Favorite celeb eye candy?

Chris Cornell. Chris Brown. Josh Lucas. Ryan Reynolds.

Which movie stars closet would you want to raid? 

  She's not a movie star---but Victoria Beckham. And I saw a tour of Ashley Tisdale's closet once, and wow. But style-wise, I love VB, Leighton Meester, Ashley Olsen, Candace Cameron Bure, etc. etc. But would love to raid Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly's closets if they were still around :/

Good book alert: Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons

Okay, so I've been really bad about reading lately---I used to be reading 2-4 books at one time and reading constantly, so finishing usually, a book every week or so. But lately my life has been CRAZY (more on that later, probably) so I just read when I can and am not too exhausted. I've been reading Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons for a couple of months now and finally finished it this morning. I found myself craving to get back to reading it, but really, its been busy folks. It was soooo good. I highly recommend it. It starts in the 60s and chronicles to the 90s. Its about a group of housewives in Minnesota who start a book club (that which one's husband's says its just a bunch of angry housewives getting together and eating bon bons, so the name sticks as their book club name). It follows their lives through the decades, through thick and thin, divorces, abuse, marriages, babies, sickness, new jobs, you name it. Anyway, yes, highly recommend it. It's by Lorna Landvik, and you can find it at the link below:

Click picture above

Anyway, I've got to get ready for a bridal shower. Have a good day everyone!

fill in the blank FRIDAY

 

1.  The best surprise ever would be, (I'll have to agree with our hostess here) a getaway would be GRAND.  It wouldn't have to be anything fancy or even lasting more than a day, but it would be so nice to get away for awhile just the two of us and try to de-stress a little. Or else I may turn into a little monster soon....and not in Lady GaGa terms....

2.    When my daddy would pull me around on my sled when I was a little girl  is my most favorite memory . Seriously, I have the best dad EVER. I know he must have gotten soooo annoyed that I would beg and beg to be pulled around just a little bit more and he would have his buddies over. Oooh and I remember once in the driveway there were frozen puddles and we 'ice skated' in our big ol moon boots. Okay, I have a lot of fond winter memories with my dad. ...I could go on and on....

3.  The hardest, but most worthwhile thing I've ever done was   letting go of a few things that I NEVER thought I could. Letting go of regret, of denial, and of doubt.

4.  The best part of my day is   curling up in bed with a book and my girly doll kitty. (We have two boys, too, she's my girly doll.) Actually, what's even better is if I don't have to go into work and its just me and a book and coffee/tea and crawling back into bed. Soooo nice. 

5. Something I like that most people don't is     going to the dentist. LOVE. I have the best dentist ever, and he is so little-boy-cute.  And I just love getting my teeth cleaned. Dental hygiene is KEY people. Actually, I have a dentist appointment on Tuesday. Rawk.

6. Something I am willing to fight for is   marriage, family.

7.  Something you might not know about me is  that I gauged out my ears when I was in high school. You know, when you make your earring hole bigger? I think I was a size 8 or something, nothing too crazy. But I didn't do it long at all because whenever I was spacing my holes out I was like, what is this nasty smell? It smelled like rotting flesh! It was my ears I finally figured out. So that was gross and I stopped, and luckily, my ear holes went back down to a normal circumference.

Fill in the Blank Friday

the little things we do Link-Up

1.  Something that is very near and dear to my heart is, animals. I can't stand to see any type of animal brutality. These little critters offer us so much love...they deserve all your love back people!

2.   A beautiful Friday OFF work is good cause to celebrate .

3.  The most fun I ever had was   going to Pennsylvania for my brother's wedding.

4.  True friends are   hard to come by, easy to keep, life-long and PATIENT.

5. Something that makes me terribly happy is    bodies of water.  Crisp autumn days. Walks through the woods. Ice cream. 

6. A good way to spend a sunny day is   well, today I am spending it on my new Ostrich chaise lounge that I got from Target and finishing up The Aloha Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini. Lunch soon with the hubby!

7.  My favorite celebratory food is  pasta. LOVE pasta. Could eat it everyday (and actually do quite often). Gotta love ice cream, too. Our local ice cream shoppe has the greatest ice cream---Blue Goo Flavor Burst---yum!

 

Fill in the Blank Friday

The Little Things We Do Link-Up

1.  When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is, feed my cats--lol. They won't let me do ANYTHING until I feed them, so its automatic now.

2.   I can hardly wait for   the new house!.

3.  The quickest way to my heart is   listening to me    because   ....I don't know...I have a complex?

4. A little known fact about me is that    I used to play the drums!! But primarily I suppose I'm more a piano player---I taught myself when I was little. I've been told I have a "piano player's hands" meaning I have looooong fingers.

5. The best part about my job is    I get to help people and they are thankful for it and don't have a sense of entitlement (like they did in my last job)

6. Something I just couldn't live without is    eye liner. BLACK.

7.  Something useful that I wish I knew how to do is  dance. I'm awful. Okay, I apparently have a complex about a lot of things!