Me time & a TGIF!

In 2011 I can honestly say I did not have enough “me time”.  Between grad school, wedding planning, house buying, work, etc. I didn’t get many days to do things for me. I’ve always worked out to stay in shape, but never really took the time to enjoy the process of getting fit and feeling my best. It’s always been more mechanical. This is going to change in 2012. I’ve started great new eating habits (Yeast Free) and feel great already! I’ve been lifting more weights to tone up and am reading The Help for FUN! Now that we have the house, we’ve also been eating dinner at the table instead of on tray tables in front of the boob tube. All great things that I am definitely lovin’. Hubs is feeling great too and said that he loves our new routine. J

Last night I got home from work, went to the gym for an hour and a half and came home to unwind in my new soaking tub with my book. I felt like a million bucks! Now that we are settling in to our new home and we have more free time, I plan to take better care of myself.  Better eating, more reading for fun, enjoying my workouts, better routines.

On a side note, you know what’s freaking amazing about not having cable yet? I stayed at the gym an extra half hour to watch TV. No cable= more cardio. Ha! Love it!

What’s up for the weekend?

Tonight my very generous Uncle and Aunt are bringing us the dining room set my grandma is passing down to us. She is moving into an apartment and giving us a beautiful set that will look just perfect in our great room.  Hubs’s Aunt and Uncle are also coming over to see the new place and hang out with us. Tomorrow, Hubs has some homework to do and I will be hitting the gym and unpacking. I may also sneak in a trip to the mall. Tomorrow night will be the first Saturday night in a long time where we have no plans! I plan on taking full advantage of some Hubs time. ;) Sunday of course, we will be watching some football. More specifically, RAVENS FOOTBALL!!!! A while back hubs purchased a HD antenna for our big screen (modern day Rabbit ears). Due to the fact that we had Comcast I gave him a ration of crap for making such a silly purchase. Needless to say, this silly purchase has given us basic cable in HD for the past week. This means, a sincere apology for giving you crap, sweet husband of mine! I still need my extended cable back… ;)

Happy Friday everyone! Have a great weekend!

Settled!!!

Hello gorgeous!!!!

Hubs and I are all moved in and settled for the most part. It has been a very busy and grueling week to say the least! We don't have any Internet yet since we are new construction. No Internet = short and sporadic lunch break/after work posts. We will hopefully be up and running with all utilities next week. I am not enjoying the lack of food  network shows and Internet access!

We settled on Wednesday morning then spent the afternoon together in awe. It was really nice having time together before the hustle and bustle of the weekend ahead. We moved in some fragile boxes (mostly our china), went shopping for some breakfast bar stools and a new desk then headed to Don Pablo's for a nice mid day meal and a margarita!
That night we picked my little brother up from the bus station and hung out until it was time to crash.

Unfortunately, hubs had to work Thursday and Friday. As he headed to work, I headed to the gym for a quick work out. When I got back, I woke up my little brother to get the day started! We packed up the car and headed over to the house to put together the furniture we bought the day before and wait for the comcast guy. At around noon Julie came over and my parents followed about an hour later. We spent Thursday and Friday painting and unpacking some fragile boxes. Friday night we went out to dinner to celebrate my Dad's 64th birthday then got ready for Saturday.

Saturday morning the movers got to our apartment at around 9:30 and worked at packing until 12:30. In between we made a few trips with some boxes and miscellaneous things in the cars and helped them pack (to save buy the hour charges!). The rest of the weekend was spent unpacking, organizing and painting (for my parents). We were so very grateful for every one's help. We are settled for the most part with a few more boxes left to unpack.

Monday we started the "yest free diet" as see on the mess's blog. We feel great so far! Since the wedding we've put on a few of those "newlywed nine" and are looking to get back in tip top shape. I also went last night to join a new gym across the street from the new neighborhood and got in a great workout! I have always been big into working out/running/fitness and I'm thinking the new weight lifting regimen and yest free diet is just what I need to get back on track. :)

I'll be back as soon as possible with some pictures of the big move!

Cheers!
Caitlin 

Holiday wrap up 2011

It's about time I close out 2011 and move on into the exciting new year!

...So the hubs and I went on a frantic scramble to find our camera this morning before our pre settlement meeting for the house. (We settle in TWO days!!) This means, we thought the camera was accidentally boxed up, which also means I got my memory card reader out while we opened the "office" box! So without further ado.. here is a holiday wrap up post containing Thanksgiving through New Years Eve. Enjoy!
Thanksgiving was spent at my parents house.

Hubs and I on the porch

 Hub's Aunt Barbara and Uncle Ralph joined us for dinner, a tradition since we've been together.

 My "Mom-mom white hair" and her great grand pup, Dutch :)

 My Dad and I

 Maggie girl

 This year, we set the table with my grandmother's China from Scotland. We've never used it before and my Mom thought it was about time it gets some use. Such a beautiful place setting.

 Aunt Barbara and Mom

 The main guest

 

The night before Thanksgiving, my brother and Dad decided to dig into some cookies and milk. (Sure, let's pile poor eating on top of poor eating!) ;)

The day after Thanksgiving, we put up the family Christmas tree. It seemed like the perfect time, since the little bro was home from school on break and Hubs and I were up for the weekend. We have a tradition. Dad and Andrew put hooks on the ornaments, Hubs, Ma and I decorate.

Andrew and Maggie

 Hubs putting up the angel

 Mom hanging an ornament

 Dad being "the Grinch"

 Me hanging an ornament

 Little brother

The Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, we went out to dinner and drinks with on of my best friends and college roommates, Ariel and her husband.

The following week, hubs and I put up a "tree top" in our apartment. We didn't want to get a whole big tree and drag out the decorations when we should be packing up the place! We are such Christmas fiends, we couldn't resist putting up something small.

Mini-tree

 cheesy

 distracted by cuteness in lights

The weekend after Thanksgiving, my BFF and our moms got together for a day of cookie baking. It was so much fun!

All the butter for ONE cookie recipe. Good thing calories don't count around the holidays. ;)

 My ma and I

 Julie and "mommy Kim". Our parents are best friends, which is how Julie and I became best friends. Since we grew up together, we've always called each others parents "mom" and "dad". They are definitely family to us.

 Kitchen Pimp

 Don't burn the cookies, or she'll beat you with a spoon!

 YUM!

Two weekends before Christmas, hubs and I went to "34th Street" downtown. They really go all out in the decorating department. It's like each house tries to out-do their neighbors.

The next weekend, we went home to visit with our friends Chip and Kristin. We had a great time visiting Winterthur. Sadly, I forgot my camera. The next day we headed on back to Maryland and had Christmas with Hubs's family. My MIL hosted and we had a great day. I didn't take too many pics, but I did make sure I got a few shots of our superfreakingcute nieces playing pin the nose on Rudolph.

Now for the main event, Christmas!

My cousin Katie and I on Christmas eve eve, along with the pup

(pic of my new bangs, which I love)

 Cousin Kay, Katie and I for Christmas eve eve dinner.

 

My mom's side is Italian, so we do the feast of the fishes for Christmas eve. It was finger lickin' good. And yes, we did have a rousing rendition of Dominic the Donkey being sung in the dining room as Uncle Al, My mom, brother, Aunt Di and I got our plates. Hubs probably thinks we are nuts. 

 video taping my Mom-mom opening her gifts!

 Finally it's Christmas morning! We always start with the dog presents... Maggie got a ginormous bone and Dutch got a new memory foam bed.

Aww brotherly love :)

Parents <3

Family picture

Now it's time to wrap up this holiday post with some NYE. Hubs's Aunt and Uncle surprised us with tickets to the Nations New Years Eve party at the Gaylord National in D.C. Oh my all the glitz and glitter. It was amazing. My three favorite college bands were there to help us ring in 2012: Mr. Green Geans, Kristin and the Noise and Jeffe. Yes, I did relive my UD days... and there isn't anything wrong with that!

Now it's time to move on with 2012. New healthy habits established, new home and new experiences ahead! 

Cheers!

Caitlin