Birmingham is Rainy and Cold

I survived my Tuesday on my own, and was pumped for Wednesday bc Josh said we could go to the Birmingham ZOO!!!! 

Come Wednesday and it is Rainy & Cold :(

No zoo . . . . 

But weather permitting we will go Friday morning and maybe rent a bike for me and go on a bike ride. 

So Wednesday was low maintenance day.  Josh and I just watched movies and ate all day. 

Somehow we never manage to go a day with out a Walmart trip when I visit, today Josh realized he needed to make a copy of his apt key for me for today, Thursday, because he is gone again most of the day.  

So funny, I got a few small things we need for the Adobo Chicken and cheese dip he asked me to make while he goes to get the key copied.  I meet up with him and he said don't be too disappointed but this is what I got.  Looked like a normal key, so I wasn't sure what the issue was, and then he shows me a little display case with a tinkerbell designed key, he told me had he seen that first he would have gotten the key copied on a tinkerbell key.  Very thoughtful, but also very funny.  My boyfriend can surprise me sometimes, not often, but sometimes. 

Like I said the rest of Wednesday we watched movies.  Watched some GI Joe Movie - not great, and just lounged, but still fun, not often I get to be lazy with Josh. 

Today he gone most of the day but promised to try and come 6ish for dinner but will have to leave before 8 but still nice. Wish me luck. . . already made my Walmart trip of the day, and still have 3 hours before I need to make dinner.  

Can't even chill outside because it is CHILLY!!!!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!!!

I arrived in Birmingham Friday Morning, I am usually super beat from my yucky red-eye flight and layover that by the time I arrive I just want to cuddle and sleep.  Seems to fit Josh's plans just fine. 

Basically all we did Friday, and we managed to go to Walmart and buy a good bit of the groceries for the meals I plan to make.  

Saturday we went Suit Shopping & it took honestly most of the day, Josh was not happy to be at a mall, and it wasn't the best day bc it was Saturday, and the Saturday before Easter. We found a few we liked, one at Belk but as soon as Josh saw the price he said resolutely, NO and put it back.  I would have fought more but it didn't fit great so I figured I'd hold my battle till we found one that fit better.  Actually found one at JC Penney that was SUPER cheap and fit great.  I was very pleased, they didn't have the matching pant in his size so we bought one size up and figured it was worth leaving to just alter it (got the matching vest which needed to be altered as well).  So that was a long afternoon to then go shoe shopping good grief, this guy owns more shoes than me & I was insisting he have a nice dress pair to go with his suits is suddenly crazy talk.  This whole thing was my Birthday Gift to him bc I wanted to get him something purposeful, all his suits he bought at thrift stores when we was 19. And he flies to Corpus Christi the same Monday I fly home for an interview.  

I felt a new suit was a good gift, he reluctantly agreed.   I am super pumped, my birthday gift will be couple pictures taken next Saturday by a trip friend of Josh's :)  He isn't thrilled about that either but it was his idea which was sweet and he promised to whatever would make me happy.  

Sunday we had a amazing day, I have always wanted to see the Peach Blossoms and so we found a peach orchard just 40 mins from Birminigham.  It was a little rainy day so we couldn't smell the blossoms but they were BEAUTIFUL!  

Took a little longer to find this Orchard, we actually found it by accident trying to leave, but I am glad we did bc it was amazing.

You cannot tell but it is raining pretty good here, but as soon as Josh saw this one he said you want your picture taken by it huh? I said Yes, Please!

I like these next few, I love the blossoms, I can't tell you what a fun time it was. 

I wanted to do a special meal for Easter that night when we were back at his apt and Josh felt that jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon was PLENTY special.  So we had those and his flop-overs, bean & cheese quesadillas.  

And for Dessert . . . Polar Bear - similar to dirt but an extra layer of pudding for Reeses Peanut Butter cups and a layer of whipped topping to cover it and gummy bears substituted for gummy worms (hence Polar Bear).   Josh was pretty happy, definitely to him made up for spending the afternoon hunting peach blossoms in the rain.  

Monday we finished suit shopping, he ended up with 2 suits,one pair of dress shoes, 3 other patterned dress pants, 4 dress shirts all under budget for what I had anticipated for one suit.   He is a bargain shopper. . . (to me that tends to take longer - just saying).

Today, Tuesday, Josh has class and work ALL day so here I am blogging and trying to not be bored.  Already walked to Walmart, might go again for some fresh air, called Brian to say good-bye before he flies out tomorrow for the MTC.  Doing Laundry :( I don't even have to cook tonight bc he has a potluck at work so I am totally on my own tonight.  I had planned to do Adobo Chicken - a dish Josh LOVES but then he mentioned last night he has a potluck so I told him I'd do it another night, so sweet, he was actually disappointed he had a potluck - and this is a guy who LOVES free food.  

Anyway, that's been my trip so far, very happy to spend time with my boyfriend. 

Happy 26th Birthday

Today I turned 26 :)

I slept really well, was able to eat half a burrito last night for dinner and have good intentions of eating something solid tonight. 

Worked 10 a.m to 7 p.m. with lots of texts from family and friends wishing me a Happy Birthday which was very nice.  Facebook updates for fun birthday messages, which also made me very happy :)

Mom knew I couldn't eat very much so she got a yummy creamy cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory for me and some fun books I love - the Percy Jackson series.

You can see a little bit of the Tinker Bell Birthday Card Josh sent me, includes stickers and little flowers to color and it has LOTS of glitter on it!

A fun surprise was a Better Homes & Garden Cook Book, which I am excited to look at. 

The smiles don't look cute bc I can't always feel how my jaws and lips go so I didn't realize how stupid it looks until now, sorry :(

Josh was able to text in the day and called about 9 ish tonight on a different line bc he couldn't get service, but wanted to wish me Happy Birthday so he hiked out of their camp area after hiking ALL day to wish me a VERY Happy Birthday.  Best Boyfriend, he said he'd try and call again when he had more time on Friday but wanted me to hear it on my actual b-day.

And my best friend Kayla will be here any minute to wish me a happy birthday and drop off a little present she got me.

I am VERY blessed to have such wonderful friends and family and a boyfriend who made this day very special.  THANK-YOU!!!!

More Wisdom Teeth

These are pictures from the day I honestly thought I wanted death over living.  Little melodramatic but it was a rough day. . . 

On Saturday after the Costo nightmare I was so miserable Mom brought me back to her home and I got in her bed, asked for ice packs and something to cover my eyes bc light from their bathroom shines in on the bed.  And I was VERY sensitive to light for some reason. 

On the night stand you can see the white bucket, any time I feel nauseous I like to have a "puke bucket" nearby just in case.  More comfort than function.  

Mom had me take off the towel so you could see my puffy swollen face.  Thankfully I don't think you can see how bruised both my jaws are.  I really did have a bad time of it, 3 impacted teeth that all had to be cut and hammered out, and I think I have petite bones or something bc it HURTS!!!!

Now a week later I can look back and saw THANK HEAVENS it isn't that bad anymore.  Still can't open my mouth super wide, but definitely small progresses daily.  Trying to eat some foods that require chewing, my jaw esp my left jaw hurts the most at night, I think it is just tired from talking and eating.  Needs rest. 

Anyway these pictures made me feel better, hope they do the same for you :)

Wisdom Teeth Surgery

Last Thursday March 14th I got my wisdom teeth out, 3 to be exact, all three were impacted and need to be extracted.  I had 2 days to cover over for paid time off so I took the 14th and 15th off to also have the weekend to recover.  

I only say this bc my Dad and Josh love stories like this. I get to the medical office and check in and Kayla is kind of behind me, and she says are you Erin? I was like yeah here for my 10:20 a.m. appt and she was like are your parents here? And then she looked at my file and she was said, oh no I am sorry I thought you were 16!  I was going to say we can't do this without your parent or guardian here.  I didn't think it was funny but Kayla did and so did my Dad and Josh when I told them. 

My best friend Kayla was with me the day of my surgery and stayed with me till she had to leave for her Easter Pagaent rehearsal when my Mom came by.  My dad lent us his video camera bc Josh wanted me video taped while coming off the anesthesia bc he hoped I would be funny.  Nope, I was very boring.   

This is me right after, I look pretty silly but I didn't say or do anything really exciting.  I felt pretty normal to be honest, just a little tired. 

I had to eat after I got to my apartment so I got some pudding but couldn't feel that half the pudding dripped down my face.  Kayla said, Erin hold on, this may be the only funny thing you do. . . 

Me later that night starting to feel the not so good. 

I tried so hard to be good, Kayla bought me frozen peas saying they are great to contour to the face.  My other girlfriend Raila sewed me 3 2 sets of rice packs in purple and 2 with a Tinkerbell pattern.  Super cute.  

And this is me Saturday Night, I honestly felt SO terrible Saturday that is when I was at peak swelling and my face started to show bruising.  And the Percoset I have been taking made me a little sick bc I wasn't eating enough to sustain it.  

I was so mad, Costco told my mom that my prescription was due up, and I needed right contacts before my trip end of March to visit Josh.  And I was pretty sure my prescription was still good but I didn't argue so I made the appt for this Sat. and mom literally drags me out of bed to go.  I get there wanting to die, and pretty sure I look HORRIBLE for the Dr. to say yeah you aren't due up yet, you are good.  So we had to wait in the optical center for them to figure out what happened.  Oh my gosh I wanted to die!

Mom took me back to her house to die slowly there. . . 

Dad saw me and laughed. :(

I tied two socks together and tucked the ice packs together.  It is Tuesday Night and I went into work today, called in on Monday bc I was in no condition to drive.  I feel better, swelling has gone significantly down and I am mostly anticipating eating and brushing my teeth!!!!

I have small dreams now...

Josh is on his Spring Break Trip leading participants through slot canyons in Utah and a small hike to the Grand Canyon but I got his birthday card last night!  A cute Tinkerbell card that has parts to color, and stickers!  It was perfect :)  

Nothing New

I have a bunch of little things that have happened, no picture really so it is hard for me to describe whats happened without pictures. . . 

Went in-door rock climbing out in Scottsdale, BIG self-esteem booster, not because I was good on the routes but EVERY-SINGLE guy in the place came up to me & my friend so flirt with us.  Not going to lie it felt good :)

Had a great day out in Anthem, we had GORGEOUS weather out here on Saturday March 2 (my cousins bday -thought of her)  and just walked around outside which was nice.  

Sunday my co-workers were a part of the Dragon Boat Race, I cannot go because the weekend of the competition I will be in Alabama so I went to cheer them on.  They did really well, didn't realize dragon boats were basically really long canoes.  Not bummed anymore I cannot be apart of that. 

Did LOTS of cooking on Sunday, made a yummy spaghetti with fresh bell peppers and crushed garlic and jalepeno stuffed sausage, Chicken Croissants, and Chicken Adobo.  First time I set off my Smoke Detector, no smoke, BARELY burned the bread crumbs on the chicken croissants & the dang thing is going off!

I don't know, first weekend in a bit that I was productive but had fun, Josh text me Saturday Night & I was just in the BEST mood.  Just hanging out in Anthem, having in-door rock-climbed, watched Modern Family with my dad while eating Chipotle, and then my boyfriend calls on Sat. saying he can Skype :)  Then to top the night off Hot-Tubbing with my Girlfriends!

Seriously best day.  

This week there isn't a ton going on for me, Tuesday is my Dad's Birthday, and Saturday I work, so 6-day work week. OOHH I do have my monthly dinner/movie night with the Seagles this Saturday Night :)

There are making some kind of German Dish for me, don't remember the movies we're watching, I think we went with something action & something funny.  

Hope everyone had a great weekend, and had a great start to the week :)

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

I spent all Wednesday Night baking this sugar bars to cut out hearts, and woke up Thursday morning to make the icing and frost them to deliver them to my family, Josh's family, and some of my friends.

Well I ran out of time so I did one for Mom & Dad to drop it off at there office.

This is what my counter looked like, I am messy.

I iced them quick, the icing tasted nice :)

All wrapped up in cellaphane with a pretty pink ribbon, Mom told me later very pretty, but also very doughy :(  so I just threw away what was left when I got home from work.

Josh was great he text me first thing in the morning and we Skyped when I was home from work.  He sent me a very, very sweet card.  And this year I got a personality test to take, last year it was love languages, this year a personality test and a leadership quiz.  

I've taken the personality quiz already as a senior at ASU, it will be fun to see how much I have changed. 

Brian goes through the temple this Saturday, very excited for him :)