cleaning house

Over break Luke and I tackled some clutter around the house in a big way.  We went through textbooks that we had hanging around and have a fairly large box to take to the bookstore to sell back (if we can).  We filled up the equivalent of 2 recycle bins with papers and such from our office and basement.  A large garbage bag of clothes also made their way to the local Goodwill store.  It feels good to get rid of stuff that we no longer need.
We kind of also had to go through our stuff since we are getting our windows replaced soon and we need to have the area near the windows cleared for the guy to do his thing.  Perfectly good excuse for cleaning up in a big way.  After the windows are installed I am going to do a big cleaning of the rooms (we are talking dusting, washing curtains and such).  A little spring cleaning and I love it.  Time to start thinking of those goals for March since I slacked off and didn't do any list of goals for February.

Old Man Luke

Luke turned 30 over the weekend.  He is officially part of the old man club.

 I decided to have a mini- surprise party for him at the Coach on Tuesday for chicken wings.  He suspected nothing and is usually late to arrive.  Well, the bugger decided to come early and ruined his surprise party.  Oh well.  He enjoyed his cake very much (a toilet) and wore his hat the entire dinner.

 Big thanks to the family that came for his birthday.  We kept it simple and just those that typically show up anyways on a Tuesday night for wings.  Then I let his brother plan a party for his family.  Luke didn't really want anything other than to chill with some friends.

 Knowing that we were going to a local bar/pub in the area I opted for cupcakes this time and kept with the toilet theme.  Luke loved them but I didn't have any yellow sprinkles that would have most definitely classed up the decor.

 I was the designated driver for the evening and after taking a shot upon first arriving at the bar to celebrate I stuck with water the rest of the  night and we left almost 5 hours later.  I was exhausted but very entertained by some older folks at the bar dancing and having a great time.

 My handsome Manfriend with his cousin Amber and brother John.  Over about 5 bowls of popcorn the decided that next year they are going to drive down to visit their grandparents in Florida for spring break.

 What Luke was most excited about--his Best Friend from elementary and high school coming and hanging out all evening.  Zach and Kelli (his wife) were there to support all evening.

 At one point Luke tried to learn the cotton-eyed Joe dance from Des (dating John).  We were entertained.  A fun night was had by all.  Happy Birthday Old Man!

Happy Anniversary Manfriend!

Today Luke and I are celebrating our first date that took place 9 years ago.  I am pretty sure that I had to drive my sister Jen to the airport so she could fly to NYC and visit Bob.

 After dropping her off I headed over to UB where Luke had class and we met up in the parking lot so we could go out for a date.  We went to a local pool hall to play pool (where I totally kicked some butt) and then went out to see the movie The Aviator.  We both thought it was a decent movie but a bit long.

 We went back to UB so I could get my car and then I went to Wegman's to grocery shop before heading back to Fredonia.  He called me the next day to make sure I got back to Fredonia and see if we could go out on a date another time.  Luke is the best Manfriend in the world.  He knows that I am not a flowers person (I might die if I ever get flowers from my phobia of them) and while dating would bring me taffy (yum and a favorite of mine) or stop for Ben and Jerry's ice cream making a huge effort to go out of his way for some Triple Carmel Chunk that was only sold at their scoop shop locations back then.

This little beauty that I have been eyeing up since October made it's way into our home the other day.  He realized that if I spent that much time looking at it online and trying to find it at the Disney store and Disney (2 trips) that he was going to find it on e-bay for me.  Just because he loves me and is always trying to find a way to surprise me and put a smile on my face.  Love you Handsome and am looking forward to many more years of celebrating our first date.

Lots of Love around here

I have been not so subtly hinting at Manfriend that I wanted a new sparkle skirt.  More specifically Neon Luv.  This one doesn't have sparkles all over it or glittery sequins but it is a fun print and great for lots of wear and washing (less worry about losing the glitter...).  

 I would leave the Sparkle Skirt website up on the ipad when I was done with it and on Neon Luv.  I even texted him one night while he was out with co-workers that if he wasn't home by a certain time I was buying a skirt.  He came home immediately (didn't realize it was that late).

 So while I am apparently fashion challenged or stuck in the 80's I love the new skirt.  It is bold and goes with my bright don't hit me with your car colors.  Mind you my hints were not very subtle--I mean I checked out sparkles every night for a week or more and left the page up.  Plus the specific text.

Continuing to feel the love with cold weather snuggles.  Anytime I am at my computer Cinder Ella feels the need to lay in front of me and more often than not has to rest her sweet face on my arm.  She not so subtly hints that she wants some petting by rubbing her face on me and rolling around.  Very much feeling the love around her the past few weeks.  Luke and I will be celebrating our first date 9 years ago in a few weeks as well as the fact that we have been in our house for 5 years.

Hairs Cut

I have been wanting to get my hair cut for a while but wanted to wait until after Disney since it is easier to braid and such with a little extra length.  Well, I finally went to get my hair cut.  The lady really did not want to cut my hair but I wanted to get rid of some layers.

So about 4-5 inches of hair were cut off and I love it.  I can still put it in a ponytail (the only rule I have about cutting my hair).

Happy February!

Wow, sorry about that!  I completely skipped over blogging here for the month of January.  I did however do a nice job of blogging over at my running one.  If you want to read about the 5k and 10k you can check it out here.

As you can see I am a pro at wearing amazing outfits that make people scratch their heads.  Yes polka dots and strips plus crocs with socks.  I have no shame.  My friend Kelly and I wore matching Sparkle Skirts for the race.  

 You can read about my half marathon adventure here.  It was hot and humid but of course I enjoyed almost every minute of the race (there is always some time where you are like, enough already, where's the finish).

 And I broke the marathon into two posts here and here.  Happy reading on what most of January was about.  Other than that it is just getting back into routines here at home and signing up for new races.