That was a bad idea.

Ugh, I feel awful right now. 

For two reasons I decided to ignore the doctor's orders not to exercise.

1. Ryan and I have a 5k "Color Me Rad" race next weekend

2. I just feel gross. I don't think I've gained weight, it's just shifted and I feel soft.

and a bonus 3. The weather is too good to resist and we now have sun until 7 p.m.

I got home from work, charged our completely dead GPS watch for 5 minutes, and charged my phone which was down to 30%, changed, grabbed the pup and headed out the door.  Our neighbor told us about some trails near the house so I quickly googled them and went out the door.

The trailhead and parking was only 5 minutes away which is awesome because I miss having a trail that I could enter right from our apartment complex.

Ryno was whining and itching to go while I got the watch set up and tried the Map My Run app for the first time while also running Pandora for music.  (I was trying to download Songza but it wouldn't work.  My friend recommended it and I love it!) And remember how my phone was only at 30%? I really hoped it would last.

Online I saw a 2.5 mile loop and I thought that's all the trail was.  Then I started running and there were forks in the road.  A lot of them.  I didn't know where to go, so I just made decisions as I went.  No one else was on the trail to ask.  I was fairly confident in my decisions until about 2 miles in.  I looked down at my phone (THANK GOODNESS I was using Map My Run. I'm pretty sure that was divine inspiration) and could see that I was not heading back to where I started.  So I turned around and tried another turn that seemed to take me in the general direction I needed.

Shortly afterwards, Ryan called me on his drive home and I had to confess I was lost.  The trails go around a little airport and I was now on the complete other side from where I started.  It was going to be at least another 2 miles in either direction for me to get back to the car.  I decided to stick by the fence surrounding the airport because it looked like it would at least hit a main road.  Well, although people had obviously run along there, it wasn't really a path.  And there were plenty of fallen and overgrown trees cutting my arms and legs as I pushed through.  I got to where I thought I should turn to go to the road and it didn't look like an option.  I called Ryan again this time slightly panicked and asked him to say a quick prayer (or two or three) that I would be able to find my way before dark and before my phone died (it was now at 17%).

I stuck with my gut feeling and headed toward the road.  I had to climb down a rocky path to get to the road, but I made it.  Then I had to run along a busy street with no side walk (thank you, NC) and a dog who was being a total butt and not wanting to run on my left side where he would be away from the road and safe.  Minus the few times I had to stop to find my way, adrenaline kept me running (and by running I mean 10 minute mile pace) the entire way.  

Four miles, a few scrapes, and some puppy vomit later, I made it back to the car.

Ryan made me a delicious healthy salad for dinner and when he went off to play basketball tonight I ate way too many gummy bears.  Now I'm just plain exhausted and my tummy hurts.

Perhaps I should go back to not exercising.

P.S. I very quickly just spewed out this story without rereading it and like I said, I'm exhausted so I apologize if it does not make sense or if there or errors.  But I don't really apologize because I don't really care.

I get these crazy ideas.

Working at a craft store is a brilliant and terrible idea all at the same time.  

Stuff goes on sale, I get big ideas, I buy it and it sits.  

You don't want to know how much craft stuff I have boxed up in our storage unit.  

Or how much I'm starting to collect here.  

I have enough snuggle flannel to make at least half a dozen receiving blankets.  

With 60% off and adorable dinosaur prints, how could I say no?  

Also purchased was enough flannel to make a new "sleep" blanket as the Lukes call it.  

These blankets are the BEST.  

They are called sleep blankets because it is almost a guarantee that if the blanket is on top of you, you will fall asleep.

In case you forgot, this is why I need a new sleep blanket:

 

And this is what the new material will be: 

 

It was hard to find something that was gender neutral, and I know this isn't, but it's adorable!

And finally, my newest insane endeavor.  We are selling our home decor fabric samples for $2 each.  They are about 16" square and some absolutely beautiful fabrics! I first found just a few of each of the greens, blues, pinks and greys and thought they were beautiful together.  So I kept gathering and got a crazy idea.  I'm going to make a quilt out of them.  

And not just a quilt, a queen size-new bedspread-quilt.

 

 Oh, they're soooo pretty! And they have different textures which makes them way more fun than just cottons. 
I got to thinking last night and came up with this design:

 

Then I was thinking about it more today and I think I'm going to turn it into a duvet cover instead of a quilt.  But, I'm also considering other pattern options.  I chose that pattern when I had quilt in mind.  Now that I'm thinking duvet cover, my ideas are expanding.  Oh the possibilities, it's going to be gorgeous!

Meanwhile in NC...

While no one really cared that Nebrasketball was playing its last game in the Devaney Center in Lincoln, we sadly said farewell to Cameron Indoor Stadium by going to Duke's last home game of the season which will most likely be our last game there.

Our 2013 graduates!

Jared's "Mustache March" is always a winner.

While Omaha experienced "Snowmageddon Part II" we were enjoying 65 degrees 

and sunshine while hiking Occoneechee Mountain with Mitch, Maile, and Lucy.

 

 

 

 

While Nebraska was still digging out of the snow, I rearranged my work schedule to enjoy Spring Break with some girlfriends of mine.  Beach trips with girls are the best because we can just be lazy and get a tan with no husbands bugging us to kick around a ball or get in the water. 

 

Although my birthday was 1.5 months ago, Ryan finally bought me my birthday cake I've been wanting.  

They're expensive, but ice cream cakes are such a nice treat! 

Note the mini-jar candle tradition on cakes is still holding strong.

And lastly here in NC, we found out that Ryan got an interview at Creighton for the residency! Now we have to see if it's worth paying $500 or use ALL of our frequent flyer miles to fly him out there.  A phone interview is an option, but it's really not an option.  If you want it (which we do) you gotta be there in person.  We were honestly getting a little worried and wondering if we got cocky, so that email couldn't have come soon enough.

Oh, and I quit Joann's.  Next week is my last week. It was supposed to be my fun job and it was not fun.  I was working way too many hours and I was a walking zombie.  So I quit.

Awkward Encounter

I went to the doctor today.  The lady doctor.  I went to get an ultrasound to check to make sure everything was okay in there.  I was first surprised when on the phone the nurse told me that it's not going to be on the outside like I've always seen on TV.  I didn't know there was another kind, but I'd deal.

I didn't even think about who would be performing the exam.  I guess I assumed a nurse.  But the nurse left me to undress and a man doctor entered.  Crap.  I'm not a shy person, but to prevent awkward encounters like this one, I've always scheduled with lady OB/GYN's.  This kid was young, too.  His tag said MD but he was probably right out of school, or at least he looked it. 

I don't know if he could sense my surprise/nervousness at that point but he complimented my toenail polish (which is a glittery turquoise - thanks Whit!).  I don't know if that was his attempt to make it less awkward, but it definitely made it more awkward.  Then he looked over and saw my shoes sitting on the ground and he just LOVED those! They are very cute, but again, how is this supposed to help the situation? Now I couldn't tell if he was just being nice or gay.  Because he reiterated once more just how pretty my shoes were.

All in all, let's not repeat that encounter mmkay?

2010 Photo Album!

Remember how over six months ago I asked everyone their opinion on how I should make our family photo albums? Well, I hate to admit it, but I ended up changing it from what we all agreed on.  It was too much pressure to add the cute doodles and it was preventing me from getting it done.  I cleaned it all up by removing the little drawings and simplified the font.  I still love it, especially because it's DONE!  We'll see how soon I have the motivation to begin on 2011.

Click on the link below to preview of some of the pages! I took out ones with vital information (our address) and ones that I thought were boring or not very pretty. :)


http://www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/4117193-sweeney-family-2010#share-pane

Waiting woman...

I've been sitting in the car for about 30 minutes now trying to pass the time for my 2nd job. It's a position with the North Carolina School of Math and Science foundation. The school is a public boarding school for juniors and seniors in high school. Much of the work I'll be doing will be similar to what I did when I worked for UNC's office of development.

Today is my first day and I showed up bright and early at 8:00 since Ryan leaves the house by 7:00 anyway. Well, she told me they come in a little late, I just didn't realize how late. I sat waiting for a few minutes and thankfully one employee stopped in before going to the gym. When she said late, she didn't mean 8:15/8:30 she was talking 9:00-9:30. That's a big difference. So here I sit trying to pass the time!

This whole two jobs thing is turning out to be quite stressful. I'm not adjusting all that well to the retail life of working nights and weekends and especially being on my feet all day. I no longer have any idea what day it is or when I work next because the schedule is never the same from day-to-day or week-to-week. And the sad part is how little money I'm making. It's really depressing to start calculating your expenses in the number of hours you have to work to pay it off. It definitely makes me grateful for the good jobs that I've had in the past and Ryan's education that he is receiving so that he can have an actual career and we won't have to make a living working 2-3 jobs each just to get by. Although its not much, and may not actually be with my time, this is a sacrifice I need to be making for our family right now.

In similar news, Ryan submitted his application to the Creighton residency on Monday! After March 1 they'll start contacting for interviews which means he gets to spend a weekend in Omaha. Lucky boy!

Working Woman

I kind of forgot to mention that I got two jobs in two days.  And I accepted both.  Which means combined I will be working full time (and probably more).  That also means that Sunday I had a slight panic attack when it fully sunk in that I have to run the house while rarely being in it anymore.  My bra-less life of PJ pants and Netflix came crashing to halt!

8:00 a.m. on Monday morning I showed up for my first day of work at Joann's fabrics.  They stuck me at the cutting counter and let me loose to deal with the craziness of the President's Day Sale (because in the retail world, those forgotten holidays give cause for some of the lowest prices).  I'm not kidding when I say it was non-stop and it was 4:30 before I knew it and I was out the door feeling like I learned absolutely nothing.

Craft stores have a pretty predictable clientele, so it was nothing I haven't dealt with before.  You get the stay-at-home moms who come to the store for a social life and spend as much time enjoying it as they can before the children scream.  You get the first-time crafters or school projecters (and men) who want you to hold their hand and tell them exactly what to purchase and how to do it.  They don't notice that there are minimal employees in the store and lines of customers.  Then there are the old ladies and there are two types of them.  First, there are the sweet ones who have even sweeter husbands who follow them around the store carrying their merchandise for them.  So adorable.  The second are not so sweet.  They are the ones who have mastered their hobbies and throw an absolute fit when the current dye lot of their favorite yarn doesn't match what they have or when the cut on their fabric isn't perfectly straight.  They're feisty ones, they are.

The last ones I will mention are probably localized to this area, for Monday was the first time I had encountered them.  They are the very gay black (and most likely weekend drag queen) men.  Girl, they are a hoot.  Coming into the store with their white satin gown and needing to find the exact fabric (which is impossible) so they can make the dress longer (it was obviously for one of them) and convert it mermaid style because that's what "she" likes.  When a match can not be found, their next solution is feathers.  "Can we buy white ostrich feathers in bulk?" I think you get the picture.

After leaving work the first day, I was surprised to realized how exhausted I was! I am no longer cut out for 8 hours on my feet.  I slept so hard the first night that I didn't hear any of Ryan's four snooze's the next morning and I normally hear the first millisecond of noise it makes.  Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...

Sacrifices, sacrifices, sacrifices.  This is all so we can hopefully buy a house when we move back to Omaha!