My Baby Turned 3!

It's true! My little Madison turned 3 years old today. Where have the last 3 years gone? I still remember when I first laid eyes on her. I'm sure there are some who think I'm silly but she's my baby! I'm a little sad that Zack couldn't be here to celebrate this year but they'll have all kinds of fun when he gets back in LESS THAN A MONTH.

So I ordered a dog cake mix online in the carob flavor (dog-safe chocolate) since my dog apparently has a thing for chocolate since she ate more than half of a Cadbury egg last year while I was at my birthday dinner. Anyways the mix had "nutrition facts" that were super adorable.

And she loved it! The frosting is a yogurt mix so I added some of her yogurt drop treats and a chicken biscuit to top it off.

She also got a DogPedic bed which is tempurpedic-esque. Madison has hip dysplasia so it's SUPPOSED to help. Really, there's only a thin layer of tempurpedic and the rest is regular foam. Then again, with her being so small, it would be the equivalent to my tempurpedic mattress topper. Oh and the Easter bunny is also new from the Dollar Tree. When she was a puppy she looooved Dollar Tree toys because she liked to rip them apart because they were so cheap. The bunny will probably die when we go home tomorrow and she plays with my mom's cockapoo but hey, it was a dollar!
I'm a midnight celebrater so most of these pictures are from last night. Next up: Zack turns 26 on April 7th! We miss you Zack!

Unmotivated Monday

After reading a very motivating new blog, all I really want to do is clean out my closet and go to garage sales. Unfortunately I have biochemistry in less than an hour and a half and should really be reading for my quiz. So instead, I will do neither and just ask a random question of the day.

Question:
What is one thing you cannot go a day without? This could be an activity, a food/drink or anything that comes to mind.

Love, Heather
xo

Makeover

Everyone has really cute blogs and I decided that I needed to follow suit. Thanks to everyone who shared their opinions in the last blog. In response: my parents' reason is because that's what my grandparents believe and that was just how they were raised. I care very much about what my parents think, and would never make such a big decision without discussing it with them.

Speaking of my parents, they just started Quick Weight Loss. They know a man who lost 40 lb in two months. There have been a few other friends with massive results in short amounts of time. Being a nutrition major, I'm a little concerned about how fast people are losing weight. You're really only supposed to lose 2 lb a week. I would also like to lose weight but I'm not sure if I'll be joining them or not. I'm an impatient person so the thought of how quick it works is tempting.

While on the topic of losing weight and health, I would like to share this new little gem that I have discovered. Pepperidge Farm Deli Flats.While I was at a Super Target with my mom some lady was handing out samples of some low sodium ham on this bread. It is SO good. I like it better than regular bread AND it's only 100 calories for both slices. I recommend it to everyone!

Love, Heather
xo

Living Together

A very relevant and immediate topic in my life has to do with marriage, living together, and if the two have to come in a pair.

Zack is planning on proposing by the end of the summer. It could be as early as next month or as late as July (yes Zack, you did let that one slip!). He won't give me a hint because he wants me to be totally surprised. (The only reason why I wanted at least a month time range is so I wouldn't be caught in sweat pants!)

I am applying to nursing schools but there is really only one option in the Fort Hood area right now. I need to take Intro to Nursing this summer so I would have to apply in the spring. What I WANT is to move in with Zack after my apartment lease is up in July. I planned on finding a part time job in Killeen and retaking a couple of classes to make A's for my nursing application.

Here is the problem to my beautiful plan: my family is very firm about not living together before marriage. In MY opinion, I would never live with a boyfriend. However, I feel like once you are engaged you have already committed for the long run so in my mind, I feel like you should be able to live together when you're engaged if you so choose. My parents don't know my plan and it won't even be mentioned until after a ring is on my finger. Zack feels like it should be based on what I want to do as a 22 year old woman but I feel like it's a strong family belief that would be wrong for me to ignore. My parents pay for my housing so to move to Killeen, rent a one bedroom, and have to pay all utilities by myself would be very expensive. It may also be only 5 months before we get married so I would have to break my lease or pay extra for a shorter one. Finally, I would probably still "live" over with Zack even if I had my own place. All in all, I feel it is most beneficial to just move in together.

What are your views on living together before marriage? What would you do in my situation and if you did want to move in together, how would you go about informing your parents of your decision?

Love, Heather
xo

My View On The Bachelor

In my attempt to become a better blogger, I'm going to venture off onto a much talked about subject. Warning ladies: you may not like what I have to say! Now pictured above is the The Bachelor's Jake and Vienna. If you feel the need to vomit, go right ahead. It's a mutual feeling. Now I get that no one likes Vienna. I was a Tenley fan myself. Jake kept saying "Vienna is just here for me" but if she can't get along with girls then I'd be concerned about all of my girl friends and maybe even family.

Now onto my actual point. I'm not buying into Jake. Everyone drools over the guy and talks about how he is the perfect guy. Well obviously they always pick attractive people for The Bachelor, females included (I guess to some people Vienna would be attractive). Personality-wise, he seems so FAKE to me. Has anyone noticed how he likes to lovingly stare in every girls' eyes? And gives them all the meaningful laugh, even when it's awkward. Ok so Jake obviously knows he's on national TV and has to be that certain guy. Every guy knows what a girl wants: that mushy, loving, understanding and overall sensitive guy. He KNOWS that's what the contestants and America want to see. Every girl on there is there to get wooed and swept away to get married so he knew that he didn't have the type of girls who are turned off by the instant clinging. That loving "I'm going to marry this love of my life" look that he gives to Vienna (whenever being filmed) like every 10 seconds? Go watch the season again, he gave it every other girl too.

Now from what I understand, Jake is a bad boy. He wants to be famous, rides a motorcycle, and has overall been the "wild" type. You didn't really think that he was the guy that he portrayed when he rode up on his motorcycle right? Come on, ladies. If he were actually that guy, he would have chosen Tenley. Hands down. He chose Vienna because she's more blunt and wild and more like who he REALLY is. Of course, he also chose Vienna because she gives it up really easily (thus the lack of "physical" attraction for Tenley- he wanted sex).

That just about sums up my soap box. I see Jake as extremely fake, Vienna as incredibly annoying, and Tenley as entirely too sincere to be associated with either of them.

Love, Heather
xo

Another Trip to Virginia!

I am so pale that I actually reflect sunlight. Time for a tan?

On Saturday I got back from my second and final trip to Ft. Lee, VA. I would like to begin by telling how I almost DIED on the plane rides. I've never had issues with planes but my trips to Virginia have been a different story, maybe because I've never been on one of the smaller airplanes (3 seats wide, 2 on one side of the aisle and 1 on the other). On all of the flights I experienced a few periods of turbulence lasting as long as 20 minutes. I hate when the pilot can't even keep the plane straight and you feel that free-fall feeling from the plane dropping down in the turbulence. NOT A FAN! Now on the flight back the captain began with the normal speech before takeoff: "It's a beautiful day to be flying in most of the country however there are some storms in Houston. We'll be hitting some pretty rough air but it seems that planes apparently have been making it through it. We'll just have to find a way through it. There will be some bumps but I'll let you know before we get to the rough air". Umm...so he seemed surprised that planes weren't just dropping out of the sky in Houston. It really gave me something to look forward to for 3 hours. When we were 30 minutes out I started intently reading the SkyMall magazine to distract myself from the turbulence and it really did help. As we were flying low and about to land the air got WORSE. We were being pushed from side to side and the plane wouldn't stay straight. 2 seconds before landing the plane took a final jerk to the left side, the pilot recovered and boom we landed. So that was pretty scary but I wasn't freaking out because I think I had already accepted my death by this point. Anyways, I'm on the ground and alive now.

VIRGINIA!
Well technically Pennsylvania too. Saturday, the day after I arrived, we drove the 4 hour drive to Hershey, PA! The most delicious place on earth! (I think they technically call it the SWEETEST place on earth but both apply). We ate in Zooka Cafe inside of Hershey and then went to the CHOCOLATE LAB!
We learned about all of the different types of chocolate and how they are made.

We had to wear hairnets and aprons. It was soo much fun, don't let Zack's face fool you! He was just being silly.

The end product! We made tulips out of chocolate! It was just as delicious as it was fun and pretty.

We also went through the museum. I have a ton of pictures from the trip posted on my facebook if you want to seem them all. I had no idea that Hershey has made just about everything over the years including MULCH and TOILET SOAP!

We then of course purchased some souvenirs.

Ok no we didn't actually buy the 5 lb bar of chocolate but it was necessary to get a picture of!

The rest of the week was more focused on spending time with each other. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for St. Patrick's Day with his friends and it just so happened to be kareoke night. We also had some date nights so it was overall a really amazing trip (minus the plane rides of course). I can't wait for Zack to be back in Texas in roughly a month!

Love, Heather
xo

The Age Old Question

I'm making my hair appointment for April and the big question is...
Blonde or brunette?

I've always had highlights. I was brunette for a year and half (thus the picture) and went back to blonde literally a month or two before I met Zack. I was thinking of switching back to brunette. What do you think?

Love, Heather
xo

And the worst blogger of the year goes to....

Me! And it's only the beginning of March!

January:
Zack left for Ft. Lee on the 2nd. I began applying to nursing schools. I also started my last semester at Texas A&M. I made at least 6 copies of my schedule for my boss (student worker job) because she kept losing them and even when she didn't, she could never manage to figure out my schedule. She put so much stress on me that I would go home worn out. She also sent me nasty text messages all of the time. I think she's taking her issues from her home life out on me. Madison was, however, the joy in my life.


February:
I took my first biochemistry 411 (second class) exam and felt like I had gotten man-handled. I called Zack when I left and cried. I studied 40 hours and I felt so unprepared while taking it. I was worried that I did so bad that I would have to drop the class and not be able to graduate in time. Well I passed...barely. I went to Virginia for Valentine's Day weekend to see Zack. We went to Washington DC. A week and a half later I quit my job. Yay! Best decision I've ever made. Since then I've been driving around Texas and on the phone all day with nursing schools. Surprisingly, my life isn't less busy at all, I just actually have the time to put forth for the nursing application process. Oh and it also snowed in Texas!

Valentine's Day before Red Lobster

Seeing snow before leaving for Washington DC

Zack was cleaning the snow off the car before we left
and he threw a snowball at the windshield! Haha silly.

He made me a Mickey Mouse pancake.

The boys at Supreme Court.

Madison and I in the snow. She loved it!

So those are the major highlights of the last couple of months. I have another biochemistry test on Monday and I'm hoping I can pull a good grade so I can have some breathing room. Zack comes back to Texas middle of April so that's just over a month! Then we get to begin the process of looking for somewhere to live in Ft. Hood. HOPEFULLY I'll update sometime before 2-3 months have gone by ;)

Love, Heather
xo