Back to life, Back to reality

WOW, have I been a slacker when it comes to blogging lately.

I apologize. Life is crazy isn't it? Somedays I just wanna breathe but this crazy world won't let me. Maybe someday I will get to feel that deep breath and that tension throughout my body release and I can just relax.

Aaaaahhhhhh......

Ok, back to reality. We had a busy busy busy weekend. Jared's dad and step mom came to visit, I had my jewelry shows and I was on the verge of sick the entire time. Go figure.

The inlaws came into town Friday and Jared took them out to dinner at Fridays while I went out with my jewelry sponsor Amy and her husband to the Japanese steakhouse. YUM YUM! It was nice to see someone from back home and it did kinda make more homesick. :( But we had a good time eating, chatting and talkin' about the jewelry business.

Saturday I had my two shows. I was disappointed in the turnout, especially since many of the RSVPs didn't even show. I did, however, get two shows booked and made a little money. I was pretty upset, but then I told myself to keep my chin up and keep going. I am going to have to work hard to make this work; it isn't going to be just given to me. So, I have followed up with everyone who could not come and offered an incentive to buy or book a show. We will see how it goes. I just have to keep on giving it 110%!!!!

The in-laws and Jared helped with the show too by getting some snacks and Janet even bought some Christmas gifts for Grandma Birk. SSShhhhh... don't tell her! :)

Sunday, the day I really wasn't feeling well, we went to the College Football Hall of Fame (which is in downtown South Bend). Can you believe that Jared and I hadn't been there yet? Crazy. It was a pretty cool place with a lot to read and take in. I was fascinated with the history of football. I could have spent all day in there reading about it. After the hall of fame we drove around the Notre Dame campus. It was beautiful! Leaves of reds, oranges and yellows were blowing in the wind and families dressed up from Mass were taking a Sunday leisurely walk. The campus was quiet except for the occassional car and small groups of students enjoying the Sunday before another week of classes. Ah, it was nice.

The rest of the day was spent eating and watching football.

We had a grand time with our family and we hope they can come back to visit again real soon.

Life in the Fast Lane

Surely make you lose your mind
Life in the fast lane, everything all the time
Life in the fast lane, uh huh

Nothing much goin' on here folks. Oh, who am I kidding!!! Life has been crazy, as usual.

This weekend is my BIG kick-off for the jewelry biz and I am really excited and nervous. So far I have about 6 confirmed RSVPs, which I think is pretty good for not knowing many people. I have a feeling more will show up... hopefully. I also put fliers on all the bulletin boards in all the apartment buildings and one person has already e-mailed me to RSVP, so I hope I will get even more people on Saturday!!!! If there ever was a time for me to learn and start praying, I think it is this week. Lord, please show people that they need a little bling bling in their lives and let them come to my jewelry shows. HAHA. Wish me luck everyone and if you have room in your prayers give a shout out to the Lord for me! :)

Not ONLY do I have two jewelry shows on Saturday, but Jared's dad and step-mom are coming to visit this weekend too! Therefore cleaning the apartment from top to bottom has also made a place on my To-Do List. Thankfully I did a lot of my cleaning yesterday, so as long as we keep the place picked up, all will be well.

PLUS, this week at work is crazy too... to top it all off.

Hopefully I will get some good pictures this weekend too!

Until next time..... keep on keepin' on bloggie friends.

It was 19 Somethin'

It was 1980 somethin'
in the world that I grew up in
Skating rinks and black Trans-Ams, big hair and parachute pants
looking back now I can see me
oh man did I look cheesy
I wouldn't trade those days for nothing
Oh, it was 1980 something
- Mark Willis

I heard this great country song on the way to work today and it got me to thinking of a simpler time. Maybe its that I am getting older? Or the fact that my high school reunion is coming up? Or maybe it's this scary world we live in... I don't know. But I smile when I think about life back in the 80s and 90s and how "simple" it was. Most likely it appeared more simple because I was young and had zero responsibility, but it just seems like the world was not as scary back then.

Now, its like everything is bad for you. Don't eat fried foods. Don't eat carbs. Wear your seatbelt. You need more folic acid, more protein, more leafy greens. Wine is good for heart health, wine is bad for liver health. The sun provides vitamin D, the sun causes skin cancer. The economy is a disaster. The housing market is failing. Health insurance is a joke. STOP THE INSANITY! AND, to top it all off, I found out yesterday that milk has a protein in it, Casein, that is horribly bad for you and weakens your immune system. Apparently drinking milk has been linked to both breast cancer and prostate cancer... what is next? I thought I could count on my good friend Milk to never let me down.

I left this presentation wondering what the heck I actually CAN do and CAN eat that won't cause cancer or cause me to just ooze toxins. And, actually the research on this milk thing was interesting. I won't get into all the details, but think about this. We are the ONLY species that drinks milk from another animal AND that continues to drink milk after infancy. And the "Milk Does a Body Good" stuff is apparently a load of crap that the industry came up with. I love me some milk, so I probably won't give it up... and I love cheese a little too much too. But, it made me think this morning when I went to grab the gallon and I opted for juice instead.

Anyway, does anyone else feel this way? I think it is annoying. I have strived in recent years to eat more veggies, take a multi-vitamin each day, drink more water, don't as much fried foods, and eat more whole grains and wheat... but this nutrition stuff is getting outta control. I am convinced that EVERYTHING causes cancer! Seriously! If you look though the mounds and mounds of research out there I am convinced we will find that every single thing we intake, and surround ourselves with causes cancer. And I am sure there are foods that reduce our risk, as the same doctor who told me milk was bad for me yesterday also told me that folic acid and flax seed/oil will reduce my risk of breast cancer. I may try to add those things to my diet or I may not. Everything happens for a reason and I can try to prevent and reduce risk as much as possible, but I am not going to sacrifice happiness (which to me means good food :) ) just on the slim chance that I am effecting whether or not I will get cancer later in life.

WOW... not sure where this post was going... but there it is. :) Your thoughts?

We are the champions

No time for losin' cause we are the champions... of the world!


I received a "Brilliant Blog Award" today from my super duper, amazing (clone of myself) bloggie friend Tara! She is so great to tell me my blog is brilliant when most days I feel like it is mediocre and boring.
Anyhow, because this award is all about 'spreading the love", here's the details...

The person giving the award chooses blogs that they consider brilliant in their content or design. In return, the recipient is expected to choose a minimum of 5-10 blogs that they like. They leave comments on these blogs to notify the winners. They then post about receiving the award on their blog (like this) and list their choices with links. They also include a mention of whom they received the award and include a link.

Here are my Brilliant Blog Awardees!!!!

Pitt-Stop

Denny Daily

Lioness

Among the Wheat

It's On My To-Do List

Smith Family Journals

and of course Our Princess in Pigtails, who gave me the award!!

I love all the blogs I read, so don't worry if you weren't on my list. These are the ones I read and enjoy on a regular basis. (Regular basis meaning OFTEN... for those of you who don't post very much... MARLA AND MISTY ) :) Just kidding, I love you guys but you need to post more to keep me entertained! :)

I want candy

do-do-do-dodo, I WANT CANDY

I love this song. I can't remember who sings it for some reason, but always makes me think of summer and in this particular instance, my cat.

She has a weird love of peppermint candies. She has done this before but I have never snapped a photo. These pieces of candy from Sonic (yes, that's right folks, our Sonic FINALLY opened) were on the kitchen table when I left this morning. This is where they ended up. She just likes to chew on the wrapper a little and knock them around. She also does this with ink pens, bottle caps and medicine bottles.

Oh that little Jada... so weird but so loveable.

Let's get physical, physical

I wanna get physical, let's get into physical

I love Olivia Newton John, especially in her sweaty headband, leotard and leg warmers in this classic MTV music video from the 80s. I'm thinking about bringing the headband back, what do you all think? :)

I have to say that I am pretty proud of myself for getting physical at the gym lately. I have been going about 2-3 days a week and doing 20-30 minutes on the Elliptical and then a weight training workout. I also sneak in some tanning time as well :). Last night my friend Tanita and I went up there together and I utilized the sauna, steam room, hot tub and pool for the first time. Apparently, I wasn't too prepared because I didn't bring flip flops or a big towel (just a small handtowel because I am a dumb ass) :)

First we jumped in the hot tub to relax and have some girl talk, then I ventured into the unknown, the steam room! I had heard that it does amazing things for you body, but had never been brave enough to try it. It was so weird, but it felt so good. I could feel my muscles relax, which was great because my neck has been really tight again including sharp pains shooting down the side. OUCH! It was a little hard to breathe and I remember my face burning a little, and my lips, for some reason, felt like they were on fire! But we stayed in for a few minutes until we couldn't take it anymore, haha. I guess I will have to get used to it to really enjoy it. Then we dried off and went into the dry sauna (that was more my style. No steam, but really hot so you sweat like crazy). Then, of course, we need to get in the pool to cool off.

It was a great time. I managed to take advantage of everything the gym has to offer that day: tanning, cardio, weights, hot tub, steam room, sauna and the pool. And when I left, oh my goodness ladies, I felt like a new person. My head felt so clear and my body was ache free. It really was a glorious feeling!!!! But then my "over-eater" part of my brain kicked in and I went to Chipotle, go figure! One step at a time I guess. :)