Question Time!

Hello Friends!

It has been so long.

April was a whirlwind month. Kentucky won the national championship, I went to Chicago, New York City, my mom visited, Adam's parents visited. Oh, and we decided to buy a house. More on that later.

I've been tasked by Mrs. Cheesefries over at The Cheesefries Stand Alone to answer a few little questions.

1.  When you were five years old, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I know this is a terrible answer, but I'm going to be completely honest.

I wanted to be a stripper.

I'm not sure what motivated me at the time. Possibly the lights and the stage? Or the fun costumes? Thankfully, I have not yet lived out my childhood dreams.

2.  If you ever had to go to the ER or stay overnight at the hospital, what was it for?

A few years ago, I had been exhausted and achey for a couple days and my mom suggested I go to the ER as we were going to be leaving for Ireland within a few days and she didn't want me to be sick. One of my friends drove me to the ER, where the doctor confirmed it was just a cold. (No way in HELL I just checked into the ER for a cold, I thought.) Turns out, I had pneumonia and I spent the next 3 days in bed with a box of pound cake and bottles of chocolate milk.

3.  What was the best thing that happened to you this week?

Everything? I got a promotion at work--my second one since March. This one is actually pretty big. I'll be moving to a new department, getting a new boss, new coworkers, new desk. I feel like I'm starting over again. It feels great to have made it out of an entry-level position in under a year.

We also found out that we have an accepted offer on a house! So, fingers crossed (and pending inspection), we'll be homeowners come June!

4.  What were your best/worst subjects in school and what subjects would you want to learn now?

I was pretty awesome at language arts and social studies. Science wasn't so bad, either. Math was probably my worst. Coincidentally, I now wish I had done more and tried harder in math and science. Especially since I'm marrying a math teacher.

5.  What do you consider to the most valuable thing you own?  What would you have said 10 years ago?

I know they're not necessarily valuable, but I would be really devastated if I lost all of the pictures I own, especially the ones of all my travels. Luckily, most of them are digital at this point, so I'm good. I have no idea what I would have said 10 years ago, but I was 16 so it probably would have been my car!

6.  What is your favorite room in your house, and why?

My bedroom. Seeing as I live with roommates, so this is the only room that is technically MINE.

7.  You were just given a yacht, a Derby horse, and a countryside estate. What would you name each of them?

Yacht: Big Bertha, Derby horse: Debbie Marie LaRocca (she'd win for sure), Countryside estate: A&E Manor.

8.  When was the last time you did something for the first time?  What was it?

This week! We put an offer on a home!

9.  What did you like best about your hometown?

I grew up in both Oklahoma and Texas, but I'll choose Houston for this one. I love that there was always something to do and something new to try. And they have the BEST Mexican food!

10.  What is the first thing you always put in your grocery cart?

A bag of lettuce! I always start in produce and I almost always buy lettuce for my lunch.

And now, questions for you, fellow bloggers!

Healthy Happy Runner

Miss Mary Mc

The Road to Skinny

The Bosky Blog

My Humble Journey

1. Would you ever consider living abroad?

2. If you could eat lunch with one famous person, who would it be?

3. Where would you want to retire to?

4. What are some of the different jobs that you have had in your life?

5. What was the last thing that you lost and later found?
6. What cartoon character do you identify with?
7. What is the unhealthiest thing you have eaten?
8. Five deceased people you would like to meet?

9. Do you like rainy days or snowy days better?

10. Were you an honor roll student in school?

Before/After

So, it's two pictures instead of one. But I don't know how I was supposed to do before/after all in one picture. Shout out to Meagan for the delicious recipe!

Funny

HIMYM

A corner of your home

Green

Photo a Day Challenge Days 14 & 15: Clouds, Car

Check it. I'm double dipping.

Clouds AND cars.

Lovely view from my office window as traffic gets heavy.

Awesome time to work only blocks from the KFC YUM Center. #MarchMadness



Photo a Day Challenge Day 13: A Sign

Photo a Day Challenge Day 12: Fork

Maybe I should have focused on the fork instead of the ravio-sagne.

Photo a day challenge: Someone you talked to

Someone I get to talk to EVERY day :)

Photo of the Day Challenge Day 9: Red

Toadstool keeps Adam's cufflinks safe.

Photo of the Day Challenge Day 8: Window

Nothing beats coming home from work to this.

Photo of the Day Challenge Day 7: Something You Wore

I love, love, love this necklace.

On a trip to Paris a few years ago, I bought a beautiful little Fleur de Lis necklace from the gift shop at Saint Chapelle. Not only is the Fleur de Lis a prominent symbol in Paris, but it's EVERYWHERE in Louisville. Unfortunately, I lost that necklace and on another trip to Paris and Saint Chapelle, I was unable to find one that was as perfect as the original.

Luckily, one of my good friends was in town visiting last year and I took her to a local store that sold all things Kentucky. They had a beautiful selection of Fleur de Lis necklaces, including one that very closely resembled the size, color, and shape of my original. She was so sweet to buy me this necklace and I think of her every day that I wear it. 

Photo of the Day Challenge Day 6: 5pm

On a scale of 1-10, how much do I love watching the news?

About a 17.5.

Photo of the Day Challenge Day 5: Smile

I'd like to take this moment to thank Aunt Jemima for the delicious pancakes and syrup I enjoyed yesterday morning.

IHOP meal for two: $20+, 700+ calorie
Pancakes at home for two: Less than $4, 300ish calories

Look, I AM blogging about saving money and calories!

Photo of the Day Challenge Day 4: Bedside

Still working on busting out my nice camera. Until then, my bedside with picture of my sorority sisters, my biological sisters, candle, rosary, and some career and relationship self-help books that have barely been touched.  



Photo Challenge Day 3: Your Neighborhood

Where is day two, you ask? I had every intention of photographing the delicious Pink Lady apple I packed in my lunch, but as the weather gained momentum during work hours, I was more interested in monitoring the local radar for the destruction that was to come.

Though I've lived in the Louisville area for the past 4 years and grew up in Texas, my family is from Southern Indiana (and I spent 4 years in college there) so I've always considered it home.

This morning, while I'm not able to make it up there as crews are asking people to stay away for the time being, I'll share other people's photos of my "neighborhood".

Image caught from a security camera in Pekin, Indiana.

What's left of Marysville, Indiana. I was on the phone with my dad while he was looking out his back door as the tornado swept over the town that is basically his backyard. Fortunately, his home was spared.

What's left of the school building in Marysville. My dad actually attended kindergarten here.

Henryville Junior/Senior High School.

Photos courtesy of Wave3 and IndyStar.

If you'd like to help out, text "Red Cross" to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

Photo Challenge Day 1: Up

Obviously, I have to start this challenge with a photo of Bentley. Since this blog is about my dog, and all.

Classy, I know. That leg lift? That's pure talent right there.

Looking forward to...

Can I just tell you how excited I am for March?

Spring, warmth (not that we've had much of a Winter), sunshine, and (hopefully) the light at the end of the tunnel from all this madness at work.

I figure this photo challenge will be an EXCELLENT opportunity for me to play with the Nikon I got for Christmas, so stay tuned!

How do you have a wedding without debt?

Of course I'm not asking that question. I know better.

This is actually the title of a Dave Ramsey post from the Dave Ramsey app (yes, I am THAT cool).

A woman calls in and asks him this very question and he tells her she sounds like a princess. I don't think she does; I think she was looking for an honest answer and she may have been clueless. However, it does beg the question: where does saving for a wedding fit in with a debt-reduction plan?

I think it boils down to priorities, here. At the beginning of this wedding planning process, I told Adam that I still DO want to be paying down my car loan as quickly as possible. I very much wanted this to be completely paid off by December 2012.

However, I don't see that happening. And this is okay. Instead of throwing all of my leftover money at the end of the month at my car payment, I am saving every last penny for our wedding.

In the long run, am I going to regret spending a little extra money on the most beautiful wedding gown I have ever laid eyes on? Or am I going to regret spending an extra couple months on paying off my car? 

We are incredibly fortunate in that our families have been very generous with wedding funds, so we don't have to save for EVERY bit of it. And I am SO looking forward to being married in October and becoming DINKs (then we can pay off TWO cars!).

So while I'm not stockpiling my earnings to pay off debt now (nor am I accumulating more debt), I am saving enough to have a memorable wedding with the expectation of coming into Holy Matrimony and finding the promised land of debt freedom!

Have dog, will fly

Having a mom who works overseas has its advantages. Mostly, those advantages involve countless frequent flyer miles at her disposal. Mom is very generous with those free miles and she has flown my sisters, me, and Adam to Europe for free on several different occassions.

For Christmas this year, my mom happened to be in the US, so we all went to Houston for the week. Having co-dependency issues with Bentley, I wanted him to be able to come with us for Christmas. Who knows how well he would have been treated over Christmas at a kennel?!

So with my mom's frequenty flyer miles, Adam and my plane tickets to Houston were free. However, Continental charges a pretty penny to fly pups.

25,000 pretty pennies to be exact.

It was worth it, though! We had such a good time with him there. It's difficult leaving him at home, but I love to travel.

 That is one tired pup.

I'm not sure he feels the same way about travel. He did exceptionally on the flight and I'm fairly confident most people didn't even realize he was there as he is so quiet by nature. However, I know he was nervous, and in the end, I just want what's best for him, so I'm on the fence about flying with him in the future.

Though Bentley's ticket was a little pricey, having the advantage of a generous mother and completely free plane tickets for the humans in our party made the decision to fly him just a little easier.

How do you handle travel with pets? Have you ever flown with one?