Huntington Beach!

So this past weekend I went on a very spontaneous trip! This is not like me at all!

I went to Huntington Beach, CA with a great friend of mine, Kari. We have been friend since 11th grade Chemistry, and we now work together! Its been a blast hanging out a lot again.

She is in pursuit of moving to the LA area and had a job interview this past week so I went with her since I was already off work. I really wanted to go since we were both thinking she was moving out there in 2 weeks because the job was so promising. Well it turns out she is going to be staying in AZ for much longer than we thought since the job didn't work out...I am secretly very glad!

We stayed at her Aunts home in Huntington. She is right across the street from the beach! Every morning we got up early and enjoyed our morning coffee on the beach. Then in the afternoons we would ride beach cruisers into town and shop and eat. I really had a great time, but missed Chris the whole time too :)

here I am with Kari's surfboard...

Here is the real surfer...

Favorite Things (to do!)

I have just been loving life lately. I enjoy being home more and all that entails...who would have thought!

I have been 'doing' more...not just sitting around. Heres what I enjoy these days:

• Walking the dogs in the morning. I figure its good for both of us! Although with the heat they are short walks.
• Cooking. I love to cook. I have been trying more recipes, and one turned out so terribly (carbonara)...although Chris is so sweet and said it was my first failure in the kitchen in 2 years!
• Reading, reading, reading! I go to the library often now. I think the more you read, the faster you get, and I am speeding through some books!
• Keeping the house clean. It makes my husband so happy, it gives me joy to see him so grateful :)
• I am still loving my job. I love what I do! Chris is doing great too, he got a promotion! Praise God. He is so good.

Gluten-Free

As many of you know, I have stomach issues up the wahzoo. Almost 2 years ago I went under many tests to try to figure out what was going on, tests no 21 year old should've had to go through. After all that, the only thing my Dr said was to "eat more fiber". So I did. Fiber bars, fiber bread, fiber yogurt, psyllium pills, etc. My stomach got even worse. I was bloated, bound up, had so much abdominal pain. So I called the Dr about it, and he said to "drink more water". It didn't help. So for these past 2 years I am still dealing with my "issues". Then about a month ago, I heard about going "g free". 

Gluten is found in wheat, barely and rye and many other food products. People who have an allergy/sensitivity to it can have similar symptoms to what my stomach is like (as well as fatigue which I am always). I am not diagnosing myself with Celiacs or a gluten allergy, I am simply going without it for about 6 weeks to see if I feel better. I do have other food allergies (cashews, pistachios, mangoes) so I know it would not be unlikely that I could have others, or just be sensitive to gluten. Many people have a sensitivity and do not know it!

The diet is not too bad at all. I am simply not eating bread products, corn and rice are fine. I am not going crazy and only eating food that is labeled "g free", I am only reading the ingredients and if it has wheat (which is always in bold), then I avoid it. Heres some of my menu for the week:

Grilled chicken tacos with corn tortillas 

Chicken and veggie stir fry with white rice

Spinach salad with feta, almonds and craisins

Chex Mix to snack on : I made my own! Chex cereal is now labeled Gluten free since its made with rice or corn flour. I mix it with craisins, peanuts, chocolate chips, and white chocolate chips.

So I have been on this for a week, and will update you in about 6!

GUESS WHAT! I am....

Blonde!

what do you think?

Temp Temp.

On Sunday and Monday, I worked for my sister as a temp employee. She is the manager for a clothing store in Casa Grande that is switching  locations so they needed help moving. I didn't think it would be too hard, just a mindless job that would bring in some cash. Well, honestly it was the hardest job EVER. No lie. We worked 12 hour shifts  with one 30 minute break, and the rest of the time was loading/unloading, loading/unloading, loading/unloading........

Oh my goodness I thought I had broken my back. I am not helpful with physical labor, ever. I am sure my sister wanted to fire my slacking butt. I quit instead, I was supposed to work Tuesday :)

So if anyone out there has ever worked in clothing retail, you are my hero. I couldn't even do 2 shifts. I had no idea what hard work goes into that industry. Goodness, even folding shirts for a couple hours was painful...my back ached and I have rug burn on the backs of my knees from sitting and standing so much.

I am most definitely sticking to my 'do one brow wax then sit for an hour' job!

Humor Me.

I have a funny story to tell....

The other night, Chris got free tickets to the DBacks game. I love when that happens :) See that chick in front of him?? Well about 5 minutes after this picture, a foul ball or line drive (idk.. when is comes waaay fast) hit her square in the face. In her eye actually. Then the ball bounced and someone else got it. Freaked me out, I sat there with my head in my lap, ducking for cover.

Anyway, this girl got ALL this free stuff for being hit. T shirts, an autographed baseball, and some paramedic even sat with her for about an hour.

THEN, after all that, some guys come into her row, and low and behold, she was sitting in someone else's seat. They had to move like 2 sections over...

I don't want to say serves her right...but whoops I did.

Steals & Deals!

I have to be very creative with spending money now that I am not contributing as much, working only part time and all, and today I found my match!!
I try to clean out my closets often and usually drop the stuff off at Goodwill. Today, I went to Name Brand Exchange. I had 4 pairs of jeans and 5 purses to give, and I got $48 store credit. I didn't think that was much money to give me, but none of my stuff was new, or will be missed, it was all in the back of my closet. Plus all their stuff is DIRT cheap.
So after shopping this was my loot:

BRAND NEW 7 Jeans: $28
3 Tops: $20

I had to pay tax, 65 cents. What a deal!

The Duggars

I really love the show, 18 Kids and Counting. I know this family seems really quirky and old fashioned to a lot of people, but I just love them! I feel like they are so pure and innocent, and have hearts of gold. They are Christians, not Mormon like some people think. The show is such a positive thing to watch when everything else is so negative....like that Jon and Kate + 8. Don't get me wrong, of course I watch it, but I feel like they are such media hogs. AND, I am sorry, but the kids are NOT babies anymore and it drives me nuts how she still treats them like they are. REALLY, do your 5 year olds still need to eat in high chairs? They just are outgrowing that cute baby stage. 

So anyway, heres my plug for you to go watch the Duggars on TLC! haha

Grandparents in town

This past weekend my Grandpa & Grandma on my Moms side were in town. Its always so nice to visit with family. We had breakfat at Cracker Barrell, I haven't eaten there in years!



This week we are watching this little guy. He is my moms new dog, Wilson.

Shout-out

To my sister, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
I love you!

new things ahead!

I had mentioned in my last post that we needed a miracle. Well we got it! So quickly too, Gods timing is amazing.
I am starting a new job this Wednesday at Beau Monde Salon and Spa. It is much closer to home, I will be part time, and they close at 7 everyday. I feel like I will be able to be home more and take care of the home more so than I what I was. I had been feeling a lot of guilt for not being able to cook and clean for my husband. This is not why I got a new job, its just cool that those things followed.
Praise god!

Also, come be my client!
:)

on life, and such.

The blogging world is so quiet lately....mine especially. Sorry, not much going on here either.
Right now I just can't pry myself away from the computer after playing my new Sims 3 for like 4 hours, not really, but its so awesome! You can buy a car in this one, and follow them to work! crazy I know. Any Sim lovers out there? (crickets...)
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This Worley household needs a couple miracles. We are trusting God.
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Other than that, we are working on: slimming down, not wasting so much, and two feisty dogs.

Slimming down because we'd like to, and I was told today that if I want kids soon, I need to lose some lbs. You know, I thought I looked fine. Maybe I have the opposite of anorexia and I am really fatter than what I see in the mirror. Maybe its after midnight and I am losing my brain. The second one, for sure.

Not wasting so much because I saw those crazy freegans on Oprah. They really are extreme. It did make me feel guilty about being wasteful, like when I just go for a drive cause I am bored. That wastes perfectly good fuel apparently.

Our dogs are nuts right now. Delilah is the worlds smallest dog with the worlds smallest poop that she leaves all over the house. I thought we got her housebroken, but she is a sneaky one. And they are digging into the drywall again when we leave them in the laundry room. I don't know what to do with them.

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I think I am finally tired to go to bed...my Sims 3 high has wore off. Seriously, get that game!

Back in Action

Meal Planning

Ok I see this a lot on other blogs, so I thought I should try it. I have a hard time with meals, since my husband is such a picky eater. He basically eats bread, meat, cheese, fruit. No veggies, fish, spicy, bold flavors. I do have to give him credit because he does try new food for me. Sometimes I give up on planning and cook two separate meals for us. I do not mind too much since I love to cook, I  just think its more economical to plan the week out.  I need advice in this department. Its hard to shop, and I have been grocery shopping 3x this week since I really don't know what I am doing. I do use coupons, but I don't do the stockpile thing, I only use them if I need the item and its on sale. 

heres a shot at the 'schedule'

Today- Chicken Tacos with chips and salsa

Friday-  on our own (I work this night)

Saturday- Steak with roasted red potatoes, green beans(this probably won't happen. we always end up making plans)

Sunday-frozen pizza & salad for me

Monday- probably taco bell, not going to lie. We carpool on Mondays and get off too late for me to cook

Tuesday- Chicken "parmigiana" (try to be healthy on this one), garlic bread

Wednesday-Sweet and spicy stir fry with brown rice

now we will see if I stick to it!

baby announcement

I made this a couple weeks ago for my good friend Amy. Missing my camera prompted me to go through pictures and I realized I never posted this. I probably should have put this on the photo blog...oh well. That blog makes me sad now that my camera is off being fixed for who knows how long. I had to reschedule a few shoots so that blog will be quiet for some time.

have a laugh.

we have magnets like this at work, they make me laugh, so now you can too!

and if you don't laugh, then well, we can't be friends. (thats a joke too)

My Sisters Keeper

I am a fan of this book, and now its a movie!

We all know the movies are always so much better than the books, but I will give it a shot. Actually, I can't wait for it to come out! I really like Abigail Breslin, but Cameron Diaz as her mom?? seems odd to me. She seems too young to play a mom, even though she is probably way old. Ok here is the trailer, if you care to watch :)

Today I made a bomb peach cobbler. So good. 

Now back to my dessert and my new obsession, The Real Housewives Of New Jersey (even if they don't have a fruit to hold)

Love.

I really, really really love this man.

I just wanted everyone to know.

ramblings

In case you haven't noticed, I often have itches to change up my blog. I love having it on minima stretch to allow for bigger pictures, so I switched back. 

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Ok, have to mention American Idol. Thank goodness! I was so sick of Adam and his tongue. Although it probably wont be the last time we see him... Kris needed to win to be successful, I think. Also, what was with those cage shoulder pads Adam wore?? He scares me. 

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My camera broke while on vacation. Yes, the nice one. I need to get it sent out for repairs, so no photos from me for a while :(

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I am now off to buy more mouse traps. We still have mice. To me that would mean, call someone already, but men don't work that way. I think we have caught over 10 mice in the past month. Disgusting! The smell of it is getting to me. 

Have a great week everyone!

Vacation

Is there a such thing as post-vacation blues? I think I have it. I wish I was still on vacation and now that we aren't go-go-going I am terribly bored. We went to bed last night at 1 a.m.(after someone was sent to turn our water on, I guess our pipe was flooding out and a neighbor complained) and then I was up at 7 to start laundry and shop for groceries. I am not even tired...yet :)

So last Saturday we arrived in New Orleans to start our cruise. We were on a Carnival cruise, first time cruising for the both of us. We got on the ship and there was food EVERYWHERE! It was lunch time, there was 3 buffet lines, a salad bar, a pizza bar, and a Mongolion BBQ-type set up line. So good. We were in heaven. Our room was nice, much bigger than we thought. Everyone on the ship was from the South. I mean everyone! So we did get to meet some very nice friendly people, which I was really nervous about having to talk to new strangers but I got over it.

On the back of the ship:

Me and our boat:
The view of Key West, FL:

Man it was SO humid everywhere we went. I have never lived in humidity and rarely visited it, so it was a hard thing not to complain about! We walked around in Key West and visited some shops, then went on a kayak tour that went from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean. It was Chris' choice of activity :)

Us in front of the Atlantic Resort in the Bahamas:

The Bahamas was gorgeous. We went to the Atlantis waterpark and spent the day there.

Me snorkeling in Freeport:
I have always been afraid of snorkeling, but it was actually a ton of fun!!

Chris leaving the ship:
Yesterday we spent the day in the French Quarters of New Orleans after the ship docked.
Again, humid and hot. We were even caught in a thunderstorm for a couple of hours.

This church was beautiful, I think it was also the first Catholic Church I have been in.
Now we are each 10 pounds heavier and I have to cook again...ugh. Haha we loved the cruise. I think it is a great way to see new places. It was good for me to be somewhere that was all inclusive because I tend to worry about money while vacationing. This time around I could really just relax and have fun! We will definitely want to cruise again!

Home.

Ok we are home after a long, much needed vacation. 

We came home to find our back gate open, and the main water pipe exposed, and the water turned off. We have no water. I want to shower, brush my teeth, start laundry....but what is going on?? Plus its after midnight so we cant do anything about, and tomorrow is Sunday so who knows if anyone can help.

Oh, and there were two dead mice in our garage. Our house smells pretty ripe.

Well we had a blast, this homecoming just sucks. I will post pictures soon!

love & marriage.

I wanted to post a little something for our anniversary now since we will be gone and I won't be blogging.

So this Tuesday is our 2nd wedding anniversary. It seems like we have been together forever, but at the same time it has just flown by. Strange I know. I am sure most married people feel like that. We have been together a total of 4 years. We met at Chandler-Gilbert Community College/Desert Springs Church/myspace.com. It was complicated. As soon as we met I knew he would be my husband. It scared the poop out of me (Chris used to hate the word 'poop'. I wonder what happened to that). I didn't want to commit to him since I knew it would move quickly. And it did. We were engaged after 6 months. We got married a year and a half later.

Marriage is challenging. The thing I struggle with most is biting my tongue. I know now that choosing your battles is crucial, and being quick to get mad and 'tell him off' is not worth it. Like I could harbor anger over the fact that Chris never ever takes the trash out or I could just do it (I really shouldn't post that....now he REALLY isn't ever going to take it out). I do get frustrated when I see other men helping their wives so much. The burden of the home is so heavy and a ton of work, but their are other things he does that I can appreciate. He takes care of all the bills. I never have to worry about money. I focus on those things, not the ones I want to change. Its all about encouraging the good of your husband, and praying for the bad :) It makes life easier. Thats just a huge thing I have learned the past couple years!

In church a couple weeks ago, the pastor said:

"Women marry a man hoping they will change, and men marry a women hoping they won't"

Haha isn't that the truth!

I am so blessed. We are so in love, have so much fun together, and are the best of friends. I love you Chris, I can't wait to start our 3rd year of marriage with you! Thanks for being so good to me.

I ♥ the Swine Flu

Yep, you read that right. I love the swine flu! Now don't get me wrong I am sure it is awful for those who have it and have died from it, but it has brought us:

A 7 DAY CRUISE TO THE BAHAMAS!!!!

I mentioned before that we are going on a cruise for our anniversary. A while back Chris booked a 4 day cruise to Cozumel, Mexico and last week it was cancelled due to the swine flu paranoia. Carnival automatically re-booked us on a 7 day cruise to the bahamas leaving 2 days later (the bahamas are much more expensive to cruise to). SWEET, right? Well, yes until we had to change our plane tickets. They wanted $400/ticket! Instead we just bought new tickets since it was WAY cheaper, and Carnival ended up giving us a $500 credit to spend on the ship for all the inconveniences. Score! That pays for excursions and gratuity. So overall, to get 3 extra days and better ports/destinations, we had to pay about $200 extra. 

This anniversary trip is such a blessing. I am soooo looking forward to it!  

Memory Lane Monday

Sliding

My Aunt Cheryl was in town so we had a great dinner at my moms. She had just bought a "wee" slide for the grandkids, so this is them enjoying it:

Emmy

Aidan
....and the "other" grandkids....

Thanks Grandma

For sending us this picture. Its us 3 kids with our Great Grandma. Made me smile :)

Weekend Reflections

Let me just say this computer is moving VERY slow....I really feel like I am using AOL right now. 

Our weekend is ending, boo. We had a lot of fun...lets see:

• Friday I worked all day and was out in the Phoenix area so I made a quick stop into Last Chance since I haven't been there in years. I was so excited to find a pair of Vigoss jeans in my size for $9.99!! What a steal, right? Well I get them home to try them on (no I didn't want to wait in the enormous fitting room line), and they don't have a front button and the zipper doesn't work. If anyone has any tips on fixing that, let me know.
• We had a great dinner that night we some friends. We ate at Brio at the San Tan Mall and had the strangest girl for a waiter EVER! Our friend ordered a lobster dish and she said "I love Crustaceans!" She was creepy weird. And she hovered. We had a good night though!
• Saturday Chris had won tickets to the Diamond Backs game in the Wells Fargo suite. Fun time eating free food and having a great view of the game. 
• Today we went to church, we are really enjoying where we are going. Then my dad took us to lunch which is always a nice treat. We ate outside at Red Robin and it was a beautiful day.  Then I had sushi for dinner with my girlfriends :)
• Just now we got back from a bike ride, and I am about to die. WOW I am not in shape.

This is a picture from a photo shoot I did last week, and I loved this shot.

AI

Don't judge me for writing about this.....BUT

every Tuesday on American Idol I wait for the judges to say:

"Adam, quit screaming,"

"Adam, quit sticking your tongue out and shaking it,"

"Adam, not everyone likes your flamboyant music."

Do they ever say rude things to him like they do the other contestants? No. He is like the queen of AI this season, and I don't like it.

Okay. Thats all.

Lazy Butt.

This is me trying to work on the computer tonight. That dog thinks the keyboard is her bed.
and she loves sleeping upside down.

Guess what! We bought these t-shirts tonight....(well ones like it)

....to wear on our anniversary cruise! We are so excited! Chris loves SNL....thats where this saying is from, although if you look it up make sure it is edited or whatever, and to me its not the funniest......ok enough rambling. It will be funny to wear these on the ship though ;)

Happy Birthday,

Olivia Faye! We love you!

Happy Easter!

What a great holiday we get to celebrate. The miracle of Easter and the price Jesus paid for us is so amazing to me. We had a great service today at church. In case you didn't know, we have been trying out new churches for a few months now. It is really overwhelming and it is easy to feel lost in the midst of it all, but we know God is faithful and has a home for us. Please keep that in your prayers. 

Ok my favorite candy of the whole year!!!!

 I love my mom for still buying us Easter treats. And you know I will be hitting the stores this week for candy clearance! Then I guess I will need to hit the gym :)


I wanted to show off my newest headband for Em- I made her 4 new ones and I think she will be sporting a new one at her dedication next week, so I will post that one too.

This was her Easter headband. 

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He is risen indeed!

a little muse...

more of this on the photo blog!

Its Friday...!

Fridays just aren't the same since we have been married. To us, its just another weeknight, especially since we always work Saturdays. It used to be such a 'date night',  now we often forget its a Friday night and that most people are out having a good time! Haha we even find ourselves going to be at 9pm on Fridays....oh the joy of married life! I wouldn't change it for anything!

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I have had such a blogging block lately, not much going on in this household. We both have been working so much. It is really needed though. We are just grateful to be able to work! 

Hopefully my next post won't be far away!!