De. Pressed. Top Ten signs you are having a rough week.

Top 10 signs you know it's a bad week:

10. Monday you leave work at 7pm and you come home and can't wait to go for a run because you might explode if you don't

9. You realize your new comforter is dry clean only

8. You have a black toenail. Why do I have a black toenail? Not cute.

7. You read a chapter of CPCU and get done and have no idea what you just read.

6. You wear tennis shoes to work and people ask you if you are ok because something must be wrong if you don't have heels on.

5. You go to lunch and the sun is shining and come back just in time for a torrential downpour to begin as you get out of your car to go back into work.

4. You are crying in your dreams.

3. It feels like there is a brick sitting on your chest at all times.

2. You go to Wal-Mart, come home and realize somehow in the freezer you now have

-fudge pops

-Bomb pops

-Lime popsicles

-Grape popsicles

-Ice cream sandwiches

-Snickers ice cream bars (at least they are the 90 calorie minis)

-Twix ice cream bars (again, 90 calorie minis)

And yet not a single thing sounds good. Actually I have no appetite what-so-ever.

And the top sign you know you are having a rough week

1. Your section manager catches you at your desk on the verge of tears, you hope he doesn't see you, but alas, he backs up and asks you if you are ok.

Geez doc, I think we're going to need to up my dosage of happy pills. That's just ridiculous. 7 different varieties of ice cream/frozen treats!? And my section manager catching me losing it. Not a good week. Not to mention my blog does not want me to upload pics for some reason.

On a brighter note, things are about to get better. Heading to Bloomington tomorrow to see some great friends. Then Saturday heading to Chicago with Missy to once again argue over who Jon is singing "I'll be There for You" to. (It's me by the way)

Vacation? Yes please!

3 months from today Missy and I will be here!
Barcelo Maya Beach

Ah, margaritas and sunshine.

A much needed break. Can't wait!

Swimming to the top

I read recently that when you are in over your head you should swim your way to the top. I purposely committed to something today that is getting me in over my head. Knowing it is going to make me "swim my way to the top." It'll give me something to focus on, look forward to, work towards, and really push myself. I feel like it's what I need to do right now to give myself the kick in the pants I need. Sound dramatic? I don't want to announce what it is yet, because until a day or two from now it won't be official. Although it is going to make me push my limits, it's going to be fun.
Caylea's latest haircut, looking really cute. Too cute to be let out of the house.

My glass slippers...a little hint for ya.

A little quote I am telling myself about my committment I made today

And this I just thought was just funny!

Keep Calm and...other stuff

I've noticed lately I feel like I'm trying to focus on SO many things at once it's like I can't devote true time to any of them. I'm trying to:
-Work massive amounts of OT
-in order to meet my financial goals
-yet have enough time to meet my fitness goals (aka running)
-add in some strength training goals
-manage to find time to enjoy my hobbies (scrapbooking, reading)
-see some friends every now and then
-Study for CPCU
-watch Season 2 of True Blood from Netflix (just finished that!)
-watch every episode of NCIS that re-runs on TV because Stacy got me hooked on it when I was in Tennessee
-Read all my favorite blogs about running, saving money, coupons, photography, healthy eating, and if I can squeeze it in celebrity gossip
-while trying to keep a clean house, do stuff with Caylea, the dogs, and of course never miss an episode of the Bachelorette. Whew! How to do it all?

I've been thinking about joining a gym but then I factor in the time to drive to the gym, not to mention I am too cheap right now. So I bought a few new dvds from Amazon. I haven't tried them yet but I'm anxious to give them a shot to throw them in to my workout mix to try something new.
I've heard they are kind of brutal. I'll be honest, I haven't devoted much time at all lately to working out and I'm feeling pretty out of shape. I'm ready to really get back into a routine.

I love this poster and I want to buy it. I'm thinking about signing up for a destination distance run with Stacy for next year. I have my eye on one...I'm kind of excited thinking about it and if her and I decide to do it I think it will be just the motivation I need to really get me going again. Knowing I have to travel for a run will make it even more exciting.

This was the second Sunday in a row where my plan to lay by the pool was not meant to be. Mother nature had other plans with the rain. That's ok because it's been nice doing things around the house. I've had this in my living room for awhile now that I found at Hobby Lobby....I thought it added something nice to the decor.

And I found something similar at Wal-Mart this week and thought it made a nice addition to my bedroom. I recently took Jazzie's crate out because she never sleeps in it anymore. The corner was missing something so this perked it right up. Thought it was nice for a Wal-Mart find.

It's been a long time since I bought any scrapbooking supplies and this week I got an order in the mail from scrapbook.com.

A ton of new paper. Still haven't sorted through it all.

New rose ribbon. Got it in yellow, pink, white, and black. Can't wait to play with this.

A new album

I've had these frames from Creative Memories for well over a year now. I've been waiting to do anything with them because I want them to look really nice. I'm thinking some of my new supplies will be perfect.

Got it in brown and distressd white. Somehow I had hoped ordering the supplies would magically make me have more time in the day to devote to scrapbooking. Funny, that hasn't happened yet.

I had a craving for ice cream today, ran up to the store planning to buy some Breyer's vanilla. I spotted this cherry vanilla instead. Cherry vanilla has always been my favorite flavor. I don't like it when there is any chocolate in it though. I saw this was no sugar added and thought that was a bonus so picked this up instead. Oh my goodness. Delicious.

Satisfied my craving perfectly. I think it was always my favorite flavor because it is like eating a bowl full of the tops of ice cream sundae's. The cherry on a sundae was always my fave part!

My car's check engine light is on. Boo! I just had a problem with it last month and it feels like it is doing the same thing. So in the shop it goes tomorrow. Here's hoping it doesn't cost too much. I'm keeping calm. And eating ice cream.

Winging It

So last week I was in the field doing inspections. I definitely felt like I was winging it this time around. I didn't have an estimate to write that was less than $12k and my largest estimate was over $40k. I had a house fire on a half million dollar house. Talk about feeling like I was winging it. I'm having another adjuster look over my estimate for that one. Did a lot of positive self-talk during the 4 hours it took me to inspect that house. Yes I was there for four hours. I'm not sure I've felt that mentally and physically exhausted in a long time. By the end of it I was thinking I'd have to include some clean up in my estimate from where I was about to vomit from the heat and the smell of smoke after being there for that long. But I made it through. When I had another house fire on Friday that was only on a $200k house it made it seem like a breeze though!

You know me, of course I managed to find a shoe store one night while I was out picking up dinner! Who doesn't need hot pink high heels? I mean really.

My new toy, a Dell mini Inspiron.

I'm enjoying having a laptop all to myself and the size is great for traveling. Took me 2 hours today to transfer all my favorites from the other laptop to this one.

Back in the office this week and out to the field in Arkansas next week. I'm already looking forward to getting out of the office again. Then at the end of the month a trip to Chicago with Missy to have our favorite man sing to us once again!

Happy 4th!

My current obsession....these are delicious. I've been eating them for years but for some reason right now they taste even better than normal. If you like coconut you should definitely try em!
My project today was finally laying down the brick edging I bought for the flower bed.

I am really happy with how it turned out!

I ran out of bricks and had to run up to Menards to get some more. So Caylea and I hop in the car and race up the street with 20 minutes before closing time. And out of the other three people that are in the store would you believe one of them was standing there buying ALL the freaking red brick crescent edgers!?!? Caylea and I were standing there watching him and I was thinking "Dude, all I need is 25, please just leave 25." I honestly thought he was going to take every last one but he managed to leave me some. 15 . All I needed was 10 more to be able to do the side. But at least I was able to get the front done and you can't really see the side so not a huge deal. I would really have liked 10 more though.

Caylea snuck in some pics of me while I was doing the yardwork.

She had a great vantage point...

From her chair here where she sat the whole time watching me do all the work!

I found this at Target today and thought it was too cute to pass up.

Thought it made a nice new addition to the mantel.

Today is one of the dog's least favorite day's of the year. They are not a fan of the fireworks. Jazz barks after every single one goes off. Magnus is hiding in the bathtub. I hear the occasional howl from Mags because Jazzie's barks make his ears hurt. It's awesome. Really.

Jazz enjoyed her toy this morning.

I did a lot of organizing projects this weekend. One of which was my hall closet. It felt great to organize.

Caylea's birthday party was a success. As was her iPod, she was totally surprised.

They stayed up until 4:30am.

Caylea had a blast. It wasn't too bad, they stayed upstairs for the most part. Had to quiet them down a few times though. My mom was a huge help, she bought decorations, cake, and cleaned for me. She was great! I'm glad Caylea enjoyed herself because it won't be happening anytime again soon. :)

Caylea and I are staying in tonight, skipping the fireworks this year. I am not up for dealing with the crowds much anymore. Working tomorrow then off to do field work on Tuesday!