Terrible Tuesday turns to Wishful Wednesday...

For those of you that are unaware of the part of the country I dwell in, I think this post will clear that right up!

My earlier blog posts were mostly of the remodel update kind, as we are refinishing our basement, a few bathrooms and an office, and I didn't know how to do anything else.  One of the bathrooms and the office will be apart of the new finished basement.  At the end of last weekend we were on our way to plastering and "mudding" (this is the word that has been used by the men in my life to describe what is happening next week) the walls.  Now this is not where I wanted to be in the project two months before precious baby Izzie is born, but these types of DIY projects generally don't stay according to your plan timetable.  However, this may have been a gift that we were a bit behind, because those located in the States of NH, MA (thats us), and especially RI have been experiencing BUTT-LOADS of some rainfall this month and as of two days ago experienced all time record breaking amounts.  Where I live is on the border of RI, so the national news you may, or may not, be seeing about RI being under water, thats us too!

That was just to paint a picture of what was going outside and inside the casa prior to the rain and outside this is what the rain has done...

{If you look just over the little hill in our back/sideyard (under the arrows) you will see water in the normally empty retention pond behind our house.  Over the weekend the neighborhood kids were riding their bikes in it, to which I despise anyways!!}

{The river running through the side of our yard}

{The white waters forming at the end of the driveway, AWESOME!}

My husby and I were looking out the front window admiring our lovely rapids out front when a sparking, smoking telephone pole caught our attention.  This pole happens to be connected to our house, awesome!  So the hubs, being a police officer in town, called the police station and they sent a firetruck right over.  Minutes later a huge bang went and National Grid was down/our power was O-U-T OUT!  This was just as we realized our basment was beginning top flood.  AKA no power = no means to plug in the shop vacuum (which was all we had to get rid of the water) to suck the water out!!!

{The dark murkiness that was our basement}

{Hooray National Grid made it within an hour.  Our neighbor, and one of Husby's lueitenants escorted them over to us first!!  It pays to have him work for the city sometimes!}

{The lovely construction site now with a little pond}

{The office part of the basement was spared a bit, behind this wall was everything we had in storage (which was spared the moisture of water!!)}

{Husby and I trying to get the water out (I helped for approximately 20 minutes, until his mom came and took over) which we did...hooooray!!}

So, even though I am not joining in on the Seattle Smith's Wishful Wednesday, this was what my Wishful Wednesday has been about!

Another fantastic Giveaway!!

I can't get over the amazing giveaways everyone has been doing lately, my goal is to get to 50 followers and do a giveaway...eek who knows how long that will take!!

Anywho, I visited Taylor over at the undomestic momma and she is hosting a giveaway for a $50 gift certificate to Lisa Leonard designs.  I loved all the necklaces and bracelets (literally they are all sooo awesome), but my favorite thing she had was the baby's first spoon:

Can't you just see Emma and Izzie (Isabelle Catherine is the proposed name for baby #2 if I haven't already mentioned that) now?!?!

So head on over and follow the instructions on how to win, also check Taylor's blog out its always so good!!!

Fabulous giveaway!

So I just found Justine's cute blog, Tobin Inc., and to my pleasant surprise she is having a Dooey and Burke wristlet giveaway!

Mention my name and we both get extra entries...what what!!

Top 2 Tuesday

So I am joining in on The Undomestic Momma's Top 2 Tuesday!!

Today's Top 2 is...Random things about ME!

1.  I became a member of the Epsilon Eta chapter of Gamma Phi Beta back in Spring of 2003 and it was one of the best things I have ever been apart of and still have in my life!  I was the new member educator, education vice president, president, education advisor, new member educator advisor, and as of August I will be chapter advisor!  I believe in strong alumnae support in order to strengthen the chapter and I adore all the events we get invited back to!

{This is my little family - My two little sisters are to my right and my youngest little sister has her two little sisters to her right - And of course Emma is a Gamma Phi Beta super-fan!  She is wearing Gamma Phi Beta letters with her name on the sleeve, courtesy of my little sister Lana}

2.  My brother did not attend the same high school I did (the public school), he opted for a catholic high school, which was honestly the best decision he could have made.  He found his soulmate there, haha, his best friend Blaine.  Blaine and Tommy (my younger brother) have been inseparable ever since (going on 9 years).  His parents are great and are in his life, but all throughout high school he practically lived at my house and when his parents grounded him he was ALWAYS aloud to come over, which was very silly because the party was always at our house!  His parents moved to North Carolina and now Florida right after he graduated high school, so he took up residency here ever since (living at school on and off, but always sending his mail here).  When I got married there was no question that he would be one of the groomsmen!  This rant was all about the fact that I love him dearly and will miss him when he commissions as a Marine Corp officer after graduating college this summer!!

{From left: Tommy(biological brother), Blaine (brother from another mother), Emma and I, and my mom.  This was taken at the log cabin we rented in January up in Maine for a week of skiing, most amazing log cabin EVER!}

...Soooo Happy Tuesday and head on over to The Undomestic Momma's blog and link it up!!

Movie Quote Monday

Okay ladies Kelly over at Confessions of a Law School Dropout presents Movie Quote Monday, I'm joining in and so should you!

Movie: The Hangover

Character: Good old Stu

Quote thanks to IMDB: What do tigers dream of when they take their tiger snooze? Do they dream of mauling zebras, or Hall Berry in her Catwoman suit? Don't you worry your pretty striped head, we're gonna get you back to Tyson and your cozy tiger bed.  And then we're gonna find our best friend Doug, and then we're gonna give him a best friend hug.  Doug, Doug, oh, Doug, Dougie, Doug, Doug!  But if he's been murdered by crystal meth tweakers, [stops suddenly to the sound of the tiger dropping to the floor] well then we're shit out of luck.

Why: Let's face it this movie is hilarious and I LOVE whenever "Andy Bernard" shows up in movies and shows off his vocal prowess.  Now I know not everyone loves this movie, but I INDEEDILY(not sure if this word exists, but go with it) do!  I do not need a deep plot to intrigue me, but I do need a good laugh every now and then and this movie supplied that in excess!

So to everyone have a Merry Monday and link your Movie Monday quote up!

Getting to know YOU!

So I am joining in on MannLands's Getting to know you questions, which were actually written by a man today.

1 - Why did you start blogging?

Gretchen over at Our Journey is a sorority sister of mine and she  started a blog about her experiences with a miscarriage and then being pregnant with twins, who hooo they are happy and healthy!  I got inspired by her and then reading Kelly's blog over at Confessions of a Law School Dropout sealed the deal that I had to do it, she is also a sorority sister of mine.  I also put it on my 101 things to accomplish in 1001 days!!

2 - Who's the one blog friend that you would want to meet most in "real life"?

I seriously would love to meet them all.  I only follow blogs that am actually interested in and will read their new posts.  I know, so lame to basically not answer the question, but I really LOVE so many of the blogs I read!!

3 - Why are you always concerned with losing that "extra 10 pounds" when chances are your husband/boyfriend/friends tell you that you look just fine the way you are?

Is the grass not always greener?!?!  I have come to realize that it is not about losing extra poundage, but more about feeling good inside.  Right now I am just coping with not gaining too much weight with this pregnancy, because what goes on must come off!  It's way easier to eat a bag of goldfish, than to "diet."

4 - What's the one thing you wish guys could understand about you?

The only guy I care about understanding me is my husband and he does a pretty good job of it.  Maybe not with all these hormones raging through me, but usually haha!

5 - Tattoos. How many do you have and how many are visible when you wear your "everyday" clothes?

UGH, hate this one.  I have one tramp stamp, yes ladies I said it!  It is a crescent moon with some clouds and stars and it faded from the beginning.  My sororities symbol is the crescent moon, woot woot!  I have actually been asked if it is a henna tattoo.  Thankfully it is hidden away from my viewing, hence why it isn't fixed yet, and the viewing of others in "everyday" clothes.

6 - What was the best year of your life and why?

I would have to say 2008, because I gave birth to my daughter and married my amazing husband!  Although, I would say as a family we will have some even better years to come.

7 - Name three things you would do if you were a man for one day.

Grab my balls, pee standing up, and walk around in boxers like its no big deal!  And I thought this one would be hard...

8 - What's your alcoholic drink of choice that usually raises a few eyebrows?

I wouldn't say I have any drink that is shocking to people, but when i drink vodka tonics I am positive my behavior sometimes leads people to raise their eyebrows.  Let me rephrase all of this, when I used to drink vodka tonics and used to misbehave, haha!

So head on over people and LINK IT UP!

In other news...

Today on my way to meet my friend Julie's brand new beautiful baby boy I saved a little puppy's life.  I am definitely a dog-lover and when I saw a little white fluffy puppy (I call all dogs puppies, whether they are full grown and 100 pounds or a month old and 5 pounds) I immediately pulled over and called him over.  He was walking a pretty busy road and almost got hit a few times.  Thankfully my hubby is a police officer in town and came right over to meet us, he then called animal control.  The hubster happily reported that the puppy was returned to her rightful owner, which was right up the street.

The moral of the story is...Shelby saved the day!!!

Check out a new Blog!

So one of my fabulous sorority sisters, the new Mrs. Courville, just started up her blog!  She is a resident director for the college we went to and she is a newlywed. Go check her blog out, she is a funny lady who is learning her way through the kitchen, one meal at a time!!

So, check her ouuuuuut!

Fantastic giveaway!!!

So Katie over at Life in the Fulmer Lane (yes I do other things than read her blog haha) has an amazing give away I thought I would share with you all!  Apparently this is Katie's "silly" who makes them, and you should definitely check out the website anyways, because she makes other things as well!!

...Thats all folks!!

Thoughtless Thursday...

As you can tell I have updated my blog and in the process I learned how to do more than bore you peeps with my life!!  In honor of all the changes, I will be participating in Katie over at Life in the Fulmer Lane's Thoughtless Thursday!  PLEASE go visit her hilarious blog, I couldn't love it more!!

So my Thoughtless Thursday will be devoted to my post wedding photo shoot (I got married 6 weeks after having my beautiful Emma, so I wasn't in the best photo taking shape)!!  My "little sister" (sorority-wise) Alanna Scully (go check her out she's awesome!) was one of the wonderful photographers that day.  She is new to the photography world, but I KNOW she is going places and she just loves to take photos of us.  Molly Bergeron was the other photographer, also new to the photography world and she is just as great!!

{Thought I would end with this one, because this shoot was the day after my best friends wedding and to say I was hungover is putting it lightly..open bar, enough said!}

It's just another manic Monday!

Hey where did all that gorgeous weather go?!?! To say that this past weekend was gorgeous isn't even explaining how nice it was out and how much Emma and I enjoyed it and ourselves allllll weekend!

The poor hubbster had to work all weekend (including an extra overnight shift and housework every chance he got). He didn't sleep from when he woke up Saturday morning at 7 until Sunday night at 10p.m., I don't know how he does it but I love him for it!

So, Emma and I had to occupy ourselves all weekend...We started by getting really cute:

And then included another picnic in the park (which was the place to be due to the weather...dungeon and dragon players and all), a visit to the Gibbons school fair to see Auntie Genevieve and Auntie Leah, then a partay Saturday night at my Lhovers house (this is my pet name for my good friend Kristen...very silly and most people do NOT appreciate it haha...not even sure how it began, something to do with Mexican lovers haha). The party was St. Patty's themed and there were lots of people who drank until they were green, this chick had two bottle of water and sported her "Irish I was drunk shirt" with pride. I was home by 10:30p.m. and in bed by 11:30p.m.! Sunday was beautiful eventhough it was about 10 degrees cooler. Mom spoiled me with a pedicure and sent me on my way with her puppy for the week. I feel like a brand new girl with these beautiful toes!!!!

My goal for the week is to eat far better than I have been ("cravings" have been getting the best of me...good enough excuse right?!?!), I would love to not have to loose 50 pounds post baby again! Also, I am meeting with Kelly Thursday so she can bloggerize me, hopping the next time I blog I have some major improvements on the sit and linking abilities!!

some final photographic food for thought...

{Emma loves Dukes couch, she won't let him nap!}

{Emma loves to wear undies as necklaces...she knows she is fresh!}

...So long for now!

Thunderous Thursday...

I wanted to quickly blog for sooo long, its been over a week!!! I have been quite busy; my Spring break consisted of being kicked out of mi casa due to renovations, having over 200 pages of reading to do for class, two exams to prepare for, and three assignments to complete. I have been so good all semester until last week, with my inclination to procrastinate! I got it all done though, and did pretty well on my exams, woohoo!!

I have also been trying to schedule a little meet-up with Kelly over at Confessions of a Law School dropout so she can leeeearn me on the ways of the blogging world. I love it all and would love to be apart of the linking things up and buttoning (not even sure the words that are coming out of my mouth). I also love the giveaways people do, and I would love to win and be able to do one of my own. Kelly is gonna do a little makeover challenge for my site as well! Once we can get a day that works for both of us, you will see a new and improved blogger.

Emma has had a few play-dates (first we've had since she's been good little walker). Last Thursday, when it started getting rainy out, we went to an indoor play area with two of my friends from high school and their kids. One of the girls has a 3 year old daughter and gave birth to her son TODAY!! And the other friend has a 2 year old son. It was very interesting to see Emma "play" with the kids and towards the end of the day get a little bit craaaazy. Then today, which was GOOOORGEOUS, Emma and I went on a picnic in a local park with the wife of one of Yuri's coworkers and her two year old daughter. Another successful play-date, although I came to find that Emma does NOT listen very well. Emma loved the little girl, so much so that she stopped mid walk-around-the-park and went over to the little girl and hugged her. I mean how adorable can she be haha!

I can't wait for more of this wonderful weather and to reinvent this blog of mine. Especially so I can be apart of all these fun alliteration days everyone has!!

I will leave you with a few photogs!

{This is who Emma and I spent our week with, last week. My parents pup Dukiiiiie}

{My pretty little Princess with her pig tails. This came about after someone mistook her for a boy the day before}

{And this is my handsome/mountain man husband getting the bathroom back in shape}

Happy Thursday all!

And I'm Back!

So, although I am on spring break I have been all over the place, having relocated to my parents house due to the renovations at my house!

So I will just update you all with all the exciting things that have happened in my oh so exciting life since last Friday:

Friday after class Emma and I hung out at my aunt and uncles house because the hubby requested that we stay away until bedtime, due to the fact that we had no running water. I had no problem with this, the bathroom situation hasn't been so desirable anyways. And Auntie Paula ordered pizza for dinner, so what is to hate about that! Emma and I went straight to bed when we got home and Yuri was up until 1 am doing work, that hardworking husband of mine!

Saturday we planned on staying all day until we had our girls night plans at 5pm in Quincy (to give my poor mom a break), buuuut we decided that since I found a screw in Emma's mouth that the house was not really a great place for her to be while any renovations occurred on the main level. It's always nice to find a small screw in your child's mouth...oh wait no! SO we headed over to Grammy and Grampy and She has been here ever since! We spent the rest of the day getting to meet my brothers new lover-girl, he's a college fratboy and she's a cheerleader and sorority girl (just like I was). Then Emma and I had a wonderful rest of the evening at our girls night, I think Emma ate everything and anything in sight!

Sunday Emma, mom, and I met my moms friends from high school and their daughters in Boston at Fire and Ice for brunch, which was utterly and totally AMAZING! Unlimited amounts of breakfast and lunch foods and a great atmosphere, what pregnant woman could ask for more (well a guess a nice cocktail like everyone else would have been nice). We then walked around town on the beautiful 60 degree day we were blessed with. I headed home to the hubby and Emma stayed with mom. Upon seeing the disastrous (but lots getting done) house of mine I decided an extended stay for Emma and I at my parents was necessary.

Monday Yuri and I picked out the color "heavy cream" for the bathroom (to match the java cabinets and mocha countertops). I got to go take my glucose test, which tests to see if I have gestational diabetes. Meaning I was lucky enough to get to drink a weird tasting orange soda looking drink and then get my blood taken. Then when I got to moms house we went shopping and went for a walk (again amazingly beautiful weather!). Yuri came over for dinner, because he hadn't seen his Emma girl since Saturday and he missed her. He also needed a shower, just saying! I cooked him some turkey/stuffing loaf, past salad, cookies, and cole slaw to take home...yes I know how random all of that is, but he needs quick food for eating on the run!

Here are some picture updates from Monday afternoon:

{Emma is very content playing with her toys at Grammy and Grampy's}

{The office in the basement is framed}

{Bathroom progress...We have a tub!!}

Tuesday was once again a beautiful day, so we started the day off with a walk (mom, Emma, Duke, and I). Then I tried to get some homework done, aggravating (but seriously who likes doing homework). When Emma woke up from her nap we headed out to do some shopping (I found 2 pairs of shoes and didn't end up spending too much either!!), then we had lunch at Panera bread (delicious), got the car washed and I vacuumed (always a sight to see - a pregnant woman bending over to vacuum the car out haha), and then we visited our "Auntie" Mel who was preparing for a date (which did NOT end up going well, sorry Mel we love you)! We had a terrific day, and it was just a mama and Emma type of day, which will probably be limited in a few months. I threw dinner in the over for my mom, dad, and Emma and then I headed out to dinner with my two pregnant friends. Its always nice to go out to dinner and relax! Especially with other people who understand and know what it's like to be pregnant or moms. My other group of friends, whom I see a lot more, are for the most part not even married, so they are in a completely different phase of life (which I envy sometimes!!).

Updates from the homestead (provided by the best husband EVER):

{Bathroom all primed and ready for some "heavy cream"}

{The office all sheet-rocked}

And now it is Wednesday, I've been up since 6:30am for a dentist appointment and we (Emma mom and I) are going to run some errands and enjoy the last day of good weather this week (so they say at least).

If you made it all the way through this, thank you and congratulations!

And this too shall pass...

Sometimes you just need your mommy! She helped to make my "wonderful" Tuesday better, then took me to the Verizon store Wednesday and got me a new phone (A blackberry at that!).

I am currently typing this post on my disagreeable laptop (apparently if you wipe the liquid up right away and lay it open upside down it actually drains the liquid out, good thing through my insanity I remained as much of a genius as I normally am)!! My husband even agreed that we should replace this laptop with a mac book pro(amazing breakthrough, especially if you know my hubby).

Quick update on the bathroom/basement remodel...

We are down to no shower or toilet on the main level, and a toilet surrounded by NO walls in the basement. So we are stinky and if by chance someone ends up outside the rear basement window they will get a nice shot!

The bathroom is completely demoed; no working toilet, no more cast iron (300 pound) tub (my manly and strong husband and brother-in-law removed this beaut all on their own), removed all the tiling covering the lower half of the walls, ripped the counter top and cabinets out, removed the built in vanity, removed the outside wall and useless closet that was there. Then, they closed the gap in the wall and where the vanity was and are working on sheet rocking where the tiles were and installing the new tub!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...oh wait no, I mean an actual bathroom!!

The hubster hasn't worked since Friday then 26th and doesn't go back until Monday March 15th! Its so weird to have him home so much, but definitely nice! Though it is not a vacation, its a workation, this is how we spend our crazy spring break now a days.

Emma and I will probably be spending some time with Grammie and Grampie (mimi and mami as Emma puts it) next week, due to the loud and unequipped facilities at Casa de Bukhenik. Wish us luck with this process; that it won't cost too much and Yuri and I will continue to be fight free throughout it all, haha!!

When it rains, it pours!

Just a quick little post for today since its 10:30pm and I have class in the morning...

My day was oh so amazing, oh wait no that was just in my dream world! My day began when my daughter decided that 6:30am is the new 8am and having gone to bed late due to doing homework all night I was not feeling her vigor for that time of day. Of course bathroom demo was not too far behind, so it didn't matter all that much anyways.

Emma and I spent our morning avoiding the hallway and bathroom noise, while I tried to mix in some online discussion board posting for one of my classes. Right after I finished a response I had been working on for about 45 minutes, Emma being such a good girl to let me work for that long, I tried erasing something at the end of the response and EVERYTHING disappeared. I did all that I could to figure out what happened, but to no avail! Then the entire computer froze, meaning bye bye anything I had written in my open word documents. To say that this upset me is a bit of an understatement, I think my brother-in-law thinks I have gone insane. I thought to myself, this is why people don't trust computers, but thats a fact of life and I must move on. So I grabbed a bowl of cereal for myself and a bowl of Emma's favorite fruit for her to snack on and sat down with my computer in my lap and cereal on the side table. Apparently Emma's fruit was no longer good enough for her, she wanted cereal. I told her no and that did NOT set well with her. Even though she is normally a pretty good girl (okay a normal one year old!) she has this new thing she likes to do, swat in annoyance at things when she wants it and can't or isn't aloud to get it. So swat she did, and down onto my lap the bowl went, cereal milk and all. While the computer is in need of some TLC or a trash can to fall in anyways, this was not my plan for today. Again the tears came and I sat there on the couch with the sticky milk and cereal for a good five minutes. I would like to remind everyone of the bathroom demo currently taking place, so yes that means a shower was not in my near future!!! So my hysterics, laced with pregnant hormones, once again scared my brother-in-law, husband, and I think even Emma. When Emma saw me starting to remove the cereal and put it back in the bowl so I could get up she started helping me, which made me smile a little bit, how cute is she.

I was able to email myself anything of importance right away and then let the computer dry out and it seems okay, but sometimes the keyboard doesn't work. However, my cell phone that was also on my lap is no longer working, lovely! As my husband put it, "Maybe now you can get a blackberry...and have your mom pay for it" haha, I like the way he thinks! There is a silver lining to everything, right?!?!

So, my day did not start so good, but my family knows how to make me feel better! However, I did try to stop at Wendy's on the way to my parents house tonight (so I could finally shower) to get a Jr. frosty and get this they ran out of them. HAHA, all I could do was laugh. That was either someone telling me I didn't need to be eating a frosty at 8pm or it just fit perfectly in with my day!

Oh Monday!

So I thought I would come on sooner and blog, but my week got a little crazy and I have a feeling that’s the way it will be for me over the next…week, month, year, decade, not even sure right now?!?!
My craziness, in part, stems from going back to finish my bachelor’s degree at BSC. I began again last summer, and after this semester I only have 5 more classes until I can graduate. It’s looking like spring 2010 I will finally get to walk over the graduation stage, better late than never right! In between starting back at BSC and now, we bought a house, found out I was pregnant, and in the last few days began remodeling our basement and bathroom (so we are spending lots of $$). To say I am a bit stressed is an understatement.
Today was particularly wonderful. I started my day having my computer play the funny “I am not going to do ANYTHING you want me to do” game, awesome! Then I had class, which actually was the highlight of today, haha go figure. After picking my Emma up at my moms, I walk through the door to my mother in law in my face about the lunch she made and how Emma needs to eat it now because it’s hot. She is exactly the person I want to see upon walking through the door of my own house…NAHT! You will all come to understand and know that my mother-in-law is not one of my favorite people. Next we went to Lowe’s and added to our growing bathroom/basement remodel receipt pile, why is everything so damn expensive!!!!! Finally, my daughter decided it would be a great time to test my patience by doing everything I told her not to. Bottom line today was not fun for my pregnant overly emotional self.
Now it is time for me to finish reading for my classes and doing homework…the outlook does not look so good for me! Wish me luck.