need.more.time.

I know we all have wished for more hours in the day. I currently wish for that EVERY DAY!

As you can see, it's been a while since my last update. Things have been REALLY busy around here. I started my new job in late October. It was quite the adjustment. It's very different from my last job and I was slow to get into it at first. I just kept thinking that I made the wrong decision. I really do miss being with Cami, but getting to do my second love is just as enjoyable! I just started seeing patients last week and it got more exciting! I will still miss Cami, but I do love a good adult conversation every now and then! And since I am part of a big team (12 therapists!!!) I feel that I will learn SO MUCH. So in the end, I am happy with my decision!

I am planning Cami's party. It's coming up this Sunday. We have TONS to do before the party...but it's a lot of last minute stuff so we can't really help that. I can't wait to blog about her birthday with pictures... :)

Other than planning her party and being completely exhausted at night, we are coming along good. Cami is doing good with daycare and seems to enjoy herself. Just this week she has not been crying when I drop her off. Right in time for the holidays when she won't be in daycare on a regular basis! waaahhhhh.

Dan is crazy busy with school. He is there all day and sometimes doesn't come home until around 6 pm. Which doesn't seem bad but when I was used to him getting home at 4:45, it's quite different! But he seems to be going good with his classes. Final exams are coming up in about a month and I know he'll be studying his butt off!!

Well, this is enough for now.. that's really all that has been going on! Until next time... :)

decisions...decisions

I had a big decision to make yesterday...to take a full time job or not. Truth is, I am LOVING my time with Cami (and for myself). I feel happier and I feel like I am able to watch my child grow. But the reality is, we have bills, mortgage and rent that make staying at home very hard.

Initially, Dan and I talked about me being off until January. But once we moved here and our house was empty with no rent and/or sale, I knew that something had to give. So I searched for part time and full time jobs. I interviewed at a nursing home for a part time job. It was okay. They operate on a new "model" of therapy so I was interested in how this would impact me and how I would have to change the way I treat in order to comply with this model. Mostly I was excited about this job for the schedule. Time for me, time for Cami, AND time for work... sounds good to me!!! They offered me the job the next week.

I should have stopped searching.....

But then I found an open position at Miami Valley Hospital...in acute care/rehab. My heart felt warm once I read the description. I really love acute care.. like seriously. So I applied. I waited patiently and got a call a few days later and set up the interview. I had my mom watch Cami for me as Dan was in class. The interview was 4 hours long. Yes you read that correctly. It was long and terrifying and also exciting! I met the whole speech team and they had the opportunity to ask me questions about my experience and some clinical questions too. It was hard, but I felt excited when I left.

I waited and waited for them to call.. meanwhile, I had already had a job offer from the nursing home. They finally called and offered the job at MVH!!! Then I was in a pickle. I was excited that both jobs offered a position but so crushed that I had to decide between Cami and a full time job.

So I went with the MVH job, of course! Gotta love acute care! Although I will mostly be in rehab. I'm still excited because I will get to see all kinds of crazy stuff and I can't wait!!!

But I feel so guilty... I feel like I'm finally getting what I wanted in being with Cami and I gave it up... And I can't help but feel bad for her. I know she really likes daycare and other children, so I know she will be fine. I just have to get through the first couple of weeks and then I know I'll be okay... i hope so anyway...

I start on October 22nd!! Until next time...

kwelsh cakes!

Have you ever had a dream? Or a passion that you just had to fulfill (get your mind out of the gutter!)? Well I have one and I am determined to make it work...

I want to own a cupcake shop. Not just ANY cupcake shop, kwelsh cakes! (For all my HMC friends)... or NinNin's Cupcakery (for my nephews)! There is no difference between the two, just trying out some names. But, I want to make cupcakes for a living and have a cute, but modern, cupcakery with coffee and beer! Since Dan is going to try out brewing his own beer, we thought the two of us could go into business. He can brew his beer and I can make cupcakes. All in one shop!

Ahhh dreams... they are dreams for a reason. I know NOTHING about running a business, making a profit, OR buy supplies, etc. So I can continue to dream while I make cupcakes in my kitchen!

This past weekend we had a WONDERFUL dinner at my sister's house. We are planning to meet up at least once a month on a Sunday to have a family dinner. We are trying to take advantage of the time we have here in Ohio since we aren't sure where our next adventure will take us! Anyway, I made cupcakes for the family dinner. I chose....

SALTED CARAMEL MOCHA CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES...dan doesn't like mocha.

I can't take credit for this recipe.. but I did piece together some recipes. I find this makes the best cupcake. But I'm no professional...

The devil's food cake recipe was from here. I didn't really like the recipe to be honest, but I didn't figure that out until I was already in the process. Also, my cake turned out very dry. The baking time didn't account for cupcakes (I should have thought of this before I chose this recipe) but I baked them for 20 mins. I would recommend 18 minutes. I also used cake flour instead of all-purpose flour.

The rest of the recipe came from this awesome website. The directions were easy to follow. I used the recipe for the caramel and for the caramel buttercream. Did you know that if you stir sugar long enough on medium heat it creates caramel?! I didn't know this (and I call myself a baker, ha!)! Anyway, it's a LONG LONG LONG time to get that caramel, but eventually it worked. I had some issues once I added the butter, but I left it on the burner and it turned from hard candy to caramel. I also added 1 stick of SALTED butter and one of unsalted butter. I was going for the salted buttercream effect.

For the buttercream, it was super easy. Unless your hand mixer tries to catch on fire and blow up! YAY kitchen aid stand mixer!

Isn't she beautiful?? 

I drizzled caramel over the top of the cupcakes and put a little chocolate rock sugar (thank you, TJ MAXX) on top. I wanted a mix of salt and sugar but I couldn't find it. 

All in all, I thought it was a success. My cake needs work but it's my first time making devil's food cake from scratch. I'll work on that. Here's my beautiful creation:

DELISH! :)

Next up a kwelsh cakes is Black Forest! I'll let you know how they turn out. 

Until next time... :)

back on schedule... sort of

If you know me well enough, you know that I never stick to a certain exercise program or training schedule. When training for a half marathon, I try to stick as much to the training plan as possible... however, with a baby, a full time job, and all other things considered, it's hard to keep that schedule. Since we have lived in Ohio, I have been trying to get back into the rhythm of working out. Here's how it went.

1. Running every day while staying at the Homewood Suites 
2. Jillian Micheal's 30 Shred - I did about a week of this but not in a row. I suck. It's 30 minutes each day and I'm STILL too lazy to do it.. pathetic.
3. Run/Walk each morning with Cami and Chloe - Now this is what I'm trying to improve on!! I'm actually doing good at this one.

We have been running each morning right after I give her breakfast if the weather permits. We used to just walk with Chloe but recently I have been running with Cami in her jogging stroller. It took me a while to figure out how to change my running form to accommodate the stroller, but I'm getting better every day!

As mentioned in the previous post, Dan has been working really hard from the hours of 8-5 in order to have family time when he gets home from school. So each night, I try to have dinner ready by 5:45 or 6 and then we have the rest of the night (until 8) to spend with Cami. The last couple of nights, we have been going for a run with Cami. It's easier to run with Dan because he is a pro at pushing the stroller so I get to run like normal. YAY!

Well last night was the first time I ran 3 miles without stopping! It's a major set-back from where I orginally started running in 2008, but it's a start! And I have to remember that. I am getting back in the groove of running and actually prefer to run than walk now.

With that being said, I am so glad I have the time to do these things (read: so glad I'm not working). I have more time for me to do what I need/want to do! I'm enjoying our daily runs and hope that they can continue!

Until next time... :)

oops.

well.. well...

we meet again after months. OOPS! Well, in my defense, we've been a little busy!

Let's recap:
1. Quit my job on July 13th (i think i posted about this already)
2. Packed up the ENTIRE house in about a week and a half
3. Helped pack the moving truck/semi trailer
4. Moved to Ohio (insert sad face..I miss Georgia)
5. Lived "homeless" in the Homewood Suites for 8 days
6. Looked at a million houses for rent before finding the "one"
7. Unpacked entire moving truck, with Dan, in one afternoon
8. Unpacked  Still unpacking house
9. Took care of Cami
10. Relaxed.

WHEW. Can you blame me for being away for so long? There is no real news to report as we are all doing pretty good. Dan is VERY busy with school getting 32/100 on his math tests studying and so on. So it's basically like we are roommates! Although now that he has decreased his coursework, he is able to go to "work" at 8ish and get some schoolwork done. Now we have most of our evenings to ourselves! YAY.

Cami has been adjusting well. I made sure to set up her room FIRST thing once we moved in. I wanted her to have a sense of normalcy so I tried to set up her room as close to her old room as possible. Now our house is significantly smaller than our last, but we are making it work. Luckily all of her furniture fits in her room so I don't have to worry about that. She is still not walking. I thought she would be by now... but in time she will get it. She is starting to stand on her own without support but it's only for a few seconds and then she realizes she is standing and freaks out. I want her to walk SIMPLY because she wants to be upright. She requires a lot of help right now with that because all she wants to do is walk around the house all day. But that's just not in my plan most days (and not to mention it KILLS my back). She has sprouted her upper tooth on the left and the right is on it's way down now. She has been sleeping well with little to no middle of the night disturbances (which were teething related anyway).

I am VERY much enjoying being home with her. It's going to be quite sad when I go back to work. I have two jobs I am considering right now and I just got my Ohio license!  WHOOP WHOOP! took forever in a day to get it!

Well I have so much more to update on, but I'm le tired. So until next time... :)

Bad News

It has been a whirlwind of a month... filled with bad news!

Let me start by saying it is related to our moving situation, NOT Cami Lou. Although we have had our ups and downs with her as well.

Originally we were going to move to Dayton, Ohio on August 8th. I finished work on Friday the 13th (eeeek) and I am officially unempolyed! :) Well with some recent revelations, it seems that we will be leaving on August 1st. Dan found out that he had to take his 10 TDY days to look for housing BEFORE he out-processed here at Robins. Which means we have to go look for a house before we plan to move. That made things a bit complicated because we didn't plan on that. In addition to that news, when we called to set up our movers, they said they couldn't come until September! Are you )#&(&#(*^ kidding me! I had planned on living without our major furniture for about a month, NOT 2. So now we have to do a full ditty to flippin' ohio!!!

As you can tell, I'm less than thrilled about this. I was planning on being stress-free during this move since I would just be telling people what to do. But instead, I have to pack this entire house while I'm off work (except the furniture). Thankfully Cami is at daycare still!

We are going to start packing today and try to get as much done as we can until the last weekend in July. Then plan to leave on August 1st. Annoying.

Cami is doing well I guess. She went through a teething phase (which resulted in no new teeth) and refused to eat from a bottle and we had to spoon feed her her formula. Never again!!! That was just... crazy. But I'm happy to report she is over her formula revolt and it's eating like a pig. We are trying to give her people food (haha, like a dog!) in small pieces but being the speech therapist that I am, I am freaking out and worried that she will aspirate! LOL only I would act like that! She does get puffs (like cheerios) and Mum-Mums, but that's about it for whole solid foods. Hopefully once she gets a few more teeth I can give her more chunks of food and less puree. I'm so over making and pureeing her food, I"m just ready to cut up what we eat and give that to her!

We will be crazy busy the next few weeks, so if I am not able to blog, don't think I am given up! I will be back once we are settled and all moved in, in OHIO! :)

Until next time ... :)

blah...

blah.. it's how I feel lately. I have started P90X...again... and it's going okay. It's a LOT different when you have a child and really don't have the time to work out. I've been lucky enough to get off around 3:45 or 4:00 from work so I can come home and get my hour workout in before Cami gets home. Because let me tell you, ALL I want to do when I get home is play with that little Cami Lou.

Losing weight has been challenging... I don't really have the time to work out like I want to and eating healthy is a challenge as well. I'm still eating like I am pregnant! I should NOT have this baby weight STILL.. so it's hard. But I can say that it's my own fault.. mainly related to diet and lack of consistent exercise...
So, along with some of my coworkers (who in my opinion are beautiful and don't need to lose weight ) I am doing the special K diet. I figured it would give me a kick-start to my weight loss and hopefully if I can get some initial pounds off, it will motivate me to work out harder and eat healthier.

Like most Americans, I just eat too much and I like dessert and Coke! LOL. But I have been good about only having a soda 1-2 times per week. But I still have that need for a dessert after every meal, even breakfast! But I'm hoping to replace unhealthy desserts with something like sliced fruit with fat free cool whip.. we'll see.

I will let you all know about P90X and the Special K diet and how I am doing with it. Day 1 is today and so far I've had a protein drink and some coffee (fat free half and half and a little sugar). As for P90X, I am on week 6. Progress is slow but that's because I'm not consistent! :(

Until next time! [and hopefully out of this funk]